Revolution
by Desertfyre
Summary: It began with a fascination and now it'll end with a revolution. BalemOC, AU. Sequel to Fascination.
1. Prologue: So it begins

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Hello! Once again! Welcome to the sequel of Fascination. After many months of having this story in my head, I was finally able to get it down properly. I've always had this idea, but it was a pain to get out of my head in the way I wanted. I don't want to talk too much about that because then I'd spoil the story. The only thing I will say further is as you are reading this story, try to keep in mind I love creating messes, but I also clean them up. Cause if you are like me, you'd want to know these things.

As per my usual custom, this story is finish, so no one has to worry about me not completing this story. This story is roughly the same length as Fascination which means it's going to take me that long or longer to update this.

 **Tie-Ins:** So far I have a fanmade trailer and a picspam for this story as talked more about on my profile and where to find them, mostly cause links don't work here. Also any time, there is a new character (as there are quite a few) you can check the picspam if you want to have a idea who I think plays who, as it has a full cast list of all the characters for this story.

 **Song Inspiration:** Also as with it's predecessor, there will be an playlist that I upload after I finish the story. But for the purpose of this story, the theme song is Rihanna's Russian Roulette. At least it's the theme song for the first half of the story.

So without any further ado, introducing the second installment of the Fascination Series: Revolution!

* * *

Prologue: So it begins...

Dizziness.

That's what hit Amoya Abrasax, former Earthling and now Queen of the Verse, when she slowly woke from a haze. Her eyesight seem to be double, triple even. It took a few moments for the haze to wear off enough, for Amoya to become aware of herself.

She was laying down, staring up at a tiled marble like ceiling. Amoya groaned before slowly sitting up. Her throat was dry as jack. Absently, she reached up to rub it as she took in her surroundings.

It looked to be like a spacious operating room except without all the equipment hanging everywhere. The room was sterile white. So white, that the even the low light, bouncing off the room, seem to drill into her eyes, making them hurt.

Amoya shut her eyes and dug the heel of her hand into her eyes. It was then she felt something wet on her eyelid and went to wipe it with her hand only to find that whatever wetness was coming from said hand.

So she carefully used her forearm to wipe her eyes.

There.

That seemed to wipe it away.

The Caribbean girl swallowed and managed peel open her eyes enough to focus on her hand. It took a long moment until she realized she was seeing red. She blinked and held up her other hand and found that it too had a sticky red substance on it.

Amoya blinked as her eyes trailed down to her lap. A horrified half scream left her throat once she process exactly what she was looking at. It was all over the front of her blouse and her hands. She watched in morbid fascination as the thick substance flaked off her arm as she moved it, falling to the grey padded operating table she was laying on.

She let out another gasp as she scrambled off it. Choking back bile, as she realized there was blood all over the padded table as well as herself.

Tears began to swim in her eyes as her head continued to pound.

"Balem?" she whispered the familiar name of her husband of 11 years. Her voice cracked and she cleared it.

Her eyes sought a door and she stumbled to it and banged on it. It didn't have a door knob but a keypad next to it. She pushed at the buttons.

Nothing happened.

"Balem!" she called out with a pound on the door. She rested her forehead on the door shutting her eyes for a brief moment. Why wasn't her husband answering her? Where was he?

"Ahh, you are finally awake." came a disembodied voice echoing in the room.

Amoya jumped at the voice. She stumbled back gracelessly as the door slid up to the ceiling, opening. She stared at the doorway in a frozen stupor.

Standing there was a man and woman, neither of which looked older than their early 20's. They may could pass for late teens, unless one looked into their eyes.

They both had the most vibrant reptilian green eyes that Amoya had ever seen. They seemed unnaturally green with a small black pupil. Smaller than an average human. Both their eyes had designs like a pinwheel in them. They both had dark hair that was mostly streaked with green.

The man was tall and seem to fill the doorway. He had high cheekbones and full lips. His was dark chocolate with short cropped hair that was very thick. His ears were pointed and seemed to have come kind of hard skin on the tips. For some reason it reminded Amoya of the skin of a reptile.

The woman was of a shorter stature. Her hair was short and framed her face. She seemed to be on the brown sugar side with a baby face and almond like eyes. She also had full lips and like her companion the tips of her ears seem to look like reptilian skin.

They were both dressed in a similar uniform. Black turtlenecks, slacks and boots with a gothic style, dark green trench coats.

Amoya surveyed this all in a span of seconds. "Who-who are you? What do you want and where is Balem Abrasax?"

The man gave a low bow. "If you come with me, my master will explain everything, unless you want to clean up first?" His green reptilian eyes locked onto hers.

Amoya lifted her hand in a slight dismissal. "I want to know where my husband is!"

The man gave a slow nod before straightening and turning. He turned and gestured for her to go ahead. His companion was already walking away. Amoya hesitated before following the woman who had yet to say anything.

She followed them a piece before they came to the bridge. Amoya realized pretty quickly that she was on a ship.

But this ship wasn't familiar to her.

Upon entering the bridge, a woman of medium stature turned to her.

"Welcome aboard Vipera. I am Captain Talipi."

Captain Talipi had a small nose and flinty eyes. Her long black hair was braided with what looked to be a ribbon. She wore a dark green uniform, heralding her as Captain of the ship. Amoya thought she looked to be Middle Eastern descent.

Her dark eyes studied Amoya giving her the once over. "You didn't want to clean up first?" she asked mildly. She didn't seem overly concerned that Amoya was covered in blood.

Amoya was getting tired of the runaround. "I want answers", she ground out. "I will not ask again! Where am I and where is my husband, Balem Abrasax?"

Captian Talipi paused before turned and pressing a button on a control panel. "She's awake, my lord."

"I can see that", came the disembodied voice that sounded earlier. Amoya could not make out who it was since it was so robo-like. All she got was that it was male. It was too deep to be female.

"Who are you and why don't you show yourself?" asked Amoya.

"Who I am is unimportant right now. And we will meet in due time. What matters is our current standing."

Amoya's temper frayed and she yelled, "I am in no mood for games! What have you done to me?"

The voice seemed unaffected as he replied mildly, "I have not done anything, my Lady. What makes you think that blood is yours? I trust you aren't ailing."

Amoya felt her blood chill. It was true. She didn't feel sick or in pain. She hadn't really realized it until now. Except for the pounding in her head she was perfectly fine. "What...what are you talking about?" she managed to choke out.

"You don't remember? How fortuitous." There was a pause, "Must be all the stress taking its toll."

Amoya growled and was about to say something but the voice continued:

"That blood, my lady...is Balem Abrasax's."

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **A.N:** Last reminder, I like making messes, I clean them up. =D


	2. Ch 1: Calm before the Storm

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** The dress that Amoya wears is similar to Rihanna's cover of Harper's Bazaar Arabia outfit.

* * *

Chapter 1: Calm before the Storm

 _\- About two weeks ago: -  
_

"Perhaps you want to explain to me, exactly why you have been unsuccessful in finding them?"

Balem's soft voice floated through his throne room. As usual he sat, dressed in his black robes, his head leaning in his hand as he stared lazily at his current winged lizard general.

Despite his size, the winged lizard shifted on his feet, trying not to appear agitated. "Your majesty, we have been searching the galaxy and we have been unable to find them. We aren't even sure they even are in this galaxy. And perhaps, this army might not even exist."

Queen Amoya, seated in a gold chair, at the bottom of Balem's platform, cringed when she heard the words.

Balem lifted his head, his eyes glaring down at his general, "If you are unfit for the job, simply say so."

"That is not what I'm saying, your majesty." the winged lizard said quickly, "Your majesty, we have searched high and low and we cannot find any proof that this army even exist."

Over the past year, rumors have been cropping up about an army that was being made. This army had one objective:

To take down Balem Abrasax.

It is rumored that they have been in development for years and was recently coming to light. There was many speculations on exactly who ordered this army. There was never any real proof and even speculations were shady at best.

In fact, no one could figure out exactly what this army was. The rumors range from cyborgs to splices to everything in between. They were operating on limited intelligence at best.

Queen Amoya, ex-Earthling, thought that it was entirely too easy that they even knew about this rumor. If they had been in hiding and in secret this long, then why would the lid pop off now, accidently or no. She also knew that Balem was worried about this and did not want to hear any excuses on why no progress was being made.

Balem shot out of his seat, "And when this so-called army comes barging down my door, what will you say then?" his voice was tightly controlled.

"Your majesty..."

"SILENCE!" Balem screamed.

Queen Amoya winced once again and then gave a small sigh. She wasn't even going to try to calm Balem down this time. She noticed that the general's eyes darted to her as if expecting her to jump in. There have been many times that she has managed to calm Balem down but this was not going to be one of them.

Balem Abrasax has been in a foul mood for the past couple of months. The longer it took to find any substantial information to work with regarding this army, the more his temper flared. Amoya had given up try to stop a blowup at this point.

She now focused on cleanup as it were.

Balem pointed at his now ex-general, "You will not be here to say anything. It's obvious you lack the strength to deal with this. Take him away." he waved his hands.

"Wait, wait!" the ex-general screamed as he was dragged away.

Balem pointed to another lizard, "Do. Not. Fail. Me." he enunciated, before waving his hand again in dismissal.

The new general bowed to Balem and then to Amoya before leaving taking his little entourage with him.

Balem breathed before slowly sitting back down. "Fools", he murmured.

Amoya waited a few moment before standing. Picking up the hem of her black dress, she walked up the steps, "You calm now, dear husband?" she asked tugging at the hood that she wore that was connected the dress as she gazed out the window she was facing.

"No." came the soft growl.

Amoya laughed once and glanced at Balem, "This has got to stop, Balem. They are trying their best."

Hazel eyes gazed at her. "Their best is not cutting it!" he growled.

Amoya looked amused as she walked until she was behind the floating settee before leaning on it, "You have gone through...how many generals in the past month alone? Balem, they can't find anything because maybe there isn't anything that whoever is behind this army wants found."

After Balem would throw a temper tantrum and demand his current general be taken away, Amoya always made sure said general wasn't tossed somewhere. Usually, she told them to stay out of sight for a bit and then make their way back to their ranks. By the time Balem saw them again, he would have forgotten about them.

Balem fumed silently unwilling to acknowledge that whoever was doing this was playing games and this was all a part of the game.

Amoya placed her hands on his shoulders from behind him. "You must have a little more patience, darling." she murmured.

Balem reached up and grasped her fingers. "Patience is not my strong suit."

"Obviously", Amoya chirped making Balem roll his eyes.

Silence drifted for a bit, "Perhaps, we should approach this from a different angle." Amoya mused.

Balem gave a wave of his hand, a sign to continue.

"Maybe we should send a spy of our own. Someone who can get close to them."

Balem sighed, "I have sent two in the past year. Neither of which has been heard from again."

Here Balem stood, making Amoya draw her hands back. Balem turned and held out his hand. Amoya placed her own in his before walking around the settee. Then the couple proceeded to walk down the steps.

"Obviously, they are seen coming a mile away." Balem added to his previous thought.

"How is that possible?" asked Amoya as they began walking out the throne room and down the vast halls towards their private quarters.

"My guess? We have a spy." Balem spoke lightly.

Amoya glanced at him, "Is there a way to find out who?"

They entered their quarters where the two of them took a seat. Balem sighed and was quiet a long while. Amoya just looked at him curiously.

At length he replied slowly, "If I could have, I would have by now. "

Amoya knew that Balem was worried. Usually spies are weeded out quickly but for some reason this spy was tricky. There had been no discrepancies of any kind, no holes, no matter how small had been left.

"Soooo, what are we going to do?" Amoya asked.

Hazels eyes turned to her. "Well, you're going to distract me."

Amoya forked an eyebrow, "Pardon?"

"Distract. Me." came the slow reply.

Amoya's eyes glittered as her mouth twitched. "How so?"

Balem just looked at her, "You have a brain, use it."

Amoya hummed a long note, indicting she was thinking. Balem just watched her. "Maybe I can..." she leaned up and whispered in Balem's ear.

Pulling back she watched Balem blink hard as his mouth kept working. "That is acceptable."

Amoya laughed.

 **TBC...**


	3. Ch 2: Eyes of Deceit

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Oh! I forgot to say when I started this story...thanks for all the favs on Fascination! You made it my most faved and reviewed! I never had over a hundred favs on any of my stories here before. So a big THANK YOU for that! =D Please enjoy this next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 2: Eyes of Deceit

"The profit margins are up, your majesty. Camou Industries are holding on by a thread. They are our last remaining obstacle", Mr. Night intoned as he clicked to the next page of the projector.

Balem nodded once in acknowledgment. "Camou Industries should be out of business by the end of this century. No?"

The other businessmen (and women) that sat around the large square table all nodded and verified the statement.

"That looks about right, majesty", Mr. Night nodded.

Silence drifted for a moment.

"Well, if there is nothing else to be said, everyone is dismissed", Balem spoke waving a hand.

The businessmen started filing out of the room. Balem followed by Mr. Night, exited last. He heard muttered voices as he did.

To his surprise, Amoya stood in the next room. She returned the greetings of his businessmen. When she saw him, he saw something flit across her face before it was gone as quickly as it came. She smiled as he came closer.

"Amoya." he stated.

"Balem", she returned.

"Your majesty", Mr. Night gave a low bow.

Balem noticed once more that shadow pass over Amoya's face as she looked at Mr. Night. It was gone before he straightened. "Mr. Night", she stated pleasantly.

"Do you have a moment?" she asked looking back at Balem.

He nodded once and beckoned Mr. Night to leave. He bowed once more before trotting briskly off. Once Mr. Night was gone, Amoya smiled at Balem before hooking her arm around his. Balem raised an eyebrow at this, though he wordlessly followed his wife out the door.

They walked a bit before he realized they were going to their private quarters. Entering their private sitting room, he saw Mr. Captiosus sitting down. He stood with a data pad in his hand and sketched a bow.

"Does anyone want to tell me exactly what's going on?" Balem asked lightly as the door shut behind them.

Mr. Captiosus had been Amoya's tutor in the early days of her new position as Queen. When her lessons concluded the two stayed friends. In fact Amoya looked upon him like a father and he looked at her as his daughter. Mr. Captiosus was and owl splice who didn't say much until there was something to be said. Despite his short stature he was a force to be reckoned with. He was also a technology expert and tinkered with new material in his free time.

"I'm afraid we may have a situation, your Majesty", Mr. Captiosus announced ominously. Balem pointed look made him continue, "I think it's better to you show you."

He handed a data pad to Balem. The first primary took it and looked down at it. On it displayed Mr. Night. Nothing spectacular, unless the glowing vibrant reptilian green eyes was something to talk about.

Mr. Captiosus stood as still as a board awaiting an reaction. Amoya shifted on her feet also waiting for an reaction.

Balem slowly cocked his head looking at the screen.

"You may noticed a...discrepancy, your majesty." the owl splice stated after the silence stretched.

Balem looked up at Mr. Captiosus. "Clearly." he drawled before his eyes narrowed, "Now, explain."

Mr. Captiosus gestured once to the screen, his dark eyes never losing its calm, "That is not Mr. Night."

There was a brief silence and both saw Balem's eye twitch. "Who else would it be?" he asked mildly.

Amoya was impressed. Normally, Balem would be raging right about now and that would be before the explanation. She was proud of him. He had come quite far in the years they had been married. He still had the famous Abrasax temper but now it had quailed slightly.

"I'm not certain, your majesty but I know that is not Mr. Night." Mr. Captiosus answered.

"I would suggest you cease in these riddles and speak plainly." Balem ordered.

Mr. Captiosus glanced at Amoya once. "I don't know any more than you, majesties. However, I noticed as I walked with Mr. Night the other day that he was... careful.", a pause, "Normally that would not strike me odd, but given recent events I could not help but notice nor could I shake the feeling. After further inspection I realized it looked like he was avoiding the video cameras. So with that in mind and her majesty's permission, I pulled some video, to test my theory."

Here he reached over and touched the screen. It split into four and Balem turned it so it was landscape for a better view. On it showed Mr. Night, yet in each shot he seemed to take care not to look at the camera. From a supposed "long blink" to an advert gaze, none of them showed him looking at the camera. Mr. Captiosus reached out and touch the screen again. And again it showed some other angles, all with Mr. Night being careful not to look directly at the camera.

"As his majesty can see, none of the angles have Mr. Night looking at the camera. So, as an experiment and with her majesty's permission, I installed a few personal video cameras throughout the palace. No one but her majesty knew this. And the results..." Here, Mr. Captiosus reached out and touched the screen again.

Balem watched almost impassively as onscreen, Mr. Night walks down the hallway. Upon seeing the video camera, he didn't know was there he ducks his head but not before the camera caught a glimpse of his green eyes.

Amoya eyes Balem as he seem to stand rooted in his spot. A few moments passed before suddenly, Balem hurled the data pad sending it smashing against the wall. After a moment had passed, Mr. Captiosus calmly walked over and picks up another data pad while Amoya inched towards her husband, whose nose had flared and was breathing heavily.

"I trusted him." spoke Balem barely above a whisper, "Perhaps mother was right." The second part Amoya barely caught as she touched his shoulder.

Hazel eyes swung towards her. "Mr. Night would never betray you. That is not Mr. Night." she said.

"How do you know?" asked Balem.

"I know." came the firm reply.

Balem scowled.

"What we need to know is, what do you wish to do with this information?" the short owl splice asked.

"Kill him."

Amoya sigh was heavy, "Before we break out the pitch forks, we need to know what he knows. If he is the spy, any open move we make, might make it back to the source."

Balem glared at her, "So what, we let him roam?"

"No, dear husband, what I'm saying is that we set a trap for him. He may not know that we know about this. He may think he adverted his gaze long enough. The fact that he is still around is testament to the fact that he feels no threat. We can capture him secretly and get information out of him without alerting our enemies to the fact we know."

"We'd have to do this very carefully majesties. We don't know who else is in on this." Mr. Captiosus interjected.

Piercing hazel eyes settled on the owl splice. "How do I know you are to be trusted?"

Mr. Captiosus didn't miss a beat, "I figured your majesty would ask, so..." Here he gave Balem the new data pad. On screen, was Mr. Captiosus looking at the video camera. His almond dark brown eyes didn't glow.

Balem lifted his head and studied the owl-splice. Finally he slowly nodded. He suppose that was suitable.

"If I may majesties, the more who knows of this, the harder it is to control where this information goes and the more likely it will get back to the source and we will not be able to trace it." informed Mr. Captiosus.

"So you suggest a limited number of people to know about this." Balem drawled.

"Yes, my lord."

"Do you have a plan, Mr. Captiosus?" Amoya asked curiously.

Here Mr. Captiosus smiled once.

 **TBC...**


	4. Ch 3: Betrayal is lurking

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 3: Betrayal is lurking

"I believe the refinery will need a small tune-up there, for maximum progress", Mr. Night spoke as he pointed to a map.

Mr. Night and a couple of other workers were gathered around a map. A small section of the refinery was working below primary speed and they were trying to get it back to normal.

"Mr. Night."

Said male turned at his name to find a male robot meandering up to him.

"Yes?"

"The Queen has requested your presence. Something urgent I believe", came the deep robotic voice.

Mr. Night mopped his brow and nodded. "Very well." He turned to the workers, "Get to work."

A chorus of 'yes sir' followed him as he walked out of the refinery to find Amoya waiting for him. He gave a sweeping bow. "Majesty? What can I do for you?"

Amoya gave a smile, "I hate to bother you Mr. Night, as I heard about the recent developments in there, but I am at a lost and I need your help."

Mr. Night sketched a small bow once more, "However can I be of service, your majesty?"

"It's your lord. He's..." Here Amoya hedged, "...throwing a tantrum."

Mr. Night blinked. He was a bit surprised to say the least. He smiled once, "Forgive the impertinent your majesty, but I would think you are the best person to calm down the infamous Abrasax temper."

Amoya gave a small laugh, "Yes, but Balem is upset by some business related venture. He's been shouting a mile a minute in technical jargon. And you know that as much as my skills in business is, it only goes so far before it goes over my head. It seems anything I say enrages him further. Perhaps you would better understand what he is angry about. If I knew that perhaps I could help calm him down."

"I see your majesty's point. We've been having some tough times here lately but I shall be happy to see to his majesty."

Amoya smiled and gestured for him to join her. They walked towards Balem's office.

"Might I ask what is he saying?" Mr. Night inquired, "At least insofar as your majesty understands it."

"Something about Camou Industries profits or something."

"Ahh, yes. That was becoming a topic of concern for us. Rest assured they should be out of business by the end of the century but they still put up a good fight."

"I'm glad to know the Abrasax Industries will continue to thrive."

Mr. Night inclined his head just as they came upon Balem's office. Amoya gave him an encouraging smile. Mr. Night nodded once before entering.

"Your majesty..." That was as far as he got.

"WHAT?" Balem snapped from behind his desk. He looked up violently at Mr. Night, from his data pad he was looking at. There were many data pads spread out over his desk.

Mr. Night shivered once. It's been awhile since Balem had a good tantrum to be afraid of. He walked into the room.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Balem growled.

Mr. Night gulped. "Tell you what majesty?"

Balem gave a small sigh before sitting back in his seat. "You take care of the running of our business. The day to day operations, correct?" His voice was mild.

Mr. Night glanced at Amoya who stood by quietly. He looked back at Balem. "Of course, my lord. There is no need for you to soil your hands."

"Then I expect you to tell me when things like this arise!" His voice had pitched but not quite a scream.

Mr. Night nodded vigorously although he was confused as jack. He had no idea what Balem was talking about. Hazel eyes pinned him and found that fact in his eyes.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about do you?" he asked softly.

Mr. Night froze.

"DO YOU?! " Balem shouted shooting up from his seat.

"Darling..." Amoya warned.

"Ssh!" Balem held up his hand.

"No majesty!" Mr. Night cried.

Balem glared, his voice tightly controlled. The first primary began to walk around the desk, much like a predator stalking his prey, "Just as well. I had to find out from outside sources instead of you. You should have known this and told me."

Mr. Night realized there was no way out of it. He tried to humble himself as much as possible. "Know what, majesty?"

Balem lifted the data pad in his hand, "That Camou Industries has come out with a new product that is rumored to rival Regenex."

"That's not true!" bust forth from Mr. Night, "I would have known!"

"I have it right here!" Balem hissed before tossing him the data pad.

Mr. Night narrowly caught it and before he could straighten he felt a jolt of lightening run through his system. He dropped the data pad, falling to his knees. "Wha...?" He looked up to see Amoya holding a small taser like object.

Mr. Night tried to stand but found his body was quickly feeling like lead. "Majesties...what...what is going on?" He managed to grind out.

No amount of struggling or moving made his body budge.

"Did that get it?" Amoya asked.

Balem folded his arms, gazing at Mr. Night, looking rather calm considering.

"Indeed, your majesty."

A closet door in the back slid open and Mr. Captiosus walked out holding a data pad he was continually pressing on. "It's making its way through his system. According to calculations, it will only last about 15 minutes, majesties."

"What's going on?" Mr. Night cried, looking up at the trio. He found he could only move his head. Everything else was numb from the shoulder's down.

"You can drop the act", Balem murmured leaning back on his desk.

"What act?" the rat-splice choked out.

Balem walked forward and moved the data pad that he had tossed him with is foot so that Mr. Night could see it. The rat-splice looked down at the data pad. On it was a still of his eyes glowing green.

Mr. Night looked helplessly up at Balem who eyed him dispassionately. Amoya stood behind Balem while off to the side, Mr. Captiosus continually worked on his data pad.

"I don't understand. Is this because of Camou Industries? That has to be a rumor. If there was any truth to it, I would have known by now."

"It's not true. We said that to get you here unsuspecting. We made that up. However..." Again Balem nudge the data pad on the floor with his foot, "...this should be what you are concerned about."

"Green eyes? It's a trick of light your majesty! It means nothing!" Mr. Night cried.

"Do not play me, Chicanery Night", Balem hissed, "You have served me well all these years and now I want to know what they promised you to betray me."

Mr. Night gaped up at Balem before looking at Amoya. "My lady! Please, you know me! I would never betray either of you! You must believe me! This is a set-up."

"Then explain the eyes..." Amoya said.

"Ah-ha!" came a cry from Mr. Captiosus.

This uncharacteristic display made both Abrasaxes look at him.

Amoya looked slightly amused, at the short owl-splice. "You got something?"

Balem just blinked.

It was then that Mr. Captiosus looked up, calm once more as he relayed the information, "Indeed your majesty. It's barely there but there is a discrepancy within his blood, like a computer glitch. It's barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. For all intents, the blood sample looks exactly like Mr. Night."

"Meaning?" Balem asked sneering down at the rat-splice who was gaping up at them.

"Meaning, your majesty, that my theory was correct. This is not Mr. Night."

Balem turned to Mr. Captiosus and drawled, "A clone?"

"No, not a clone."

"What are you talking about?" Mr. Night cried.

"I'm checking his brain scan. Again, looks like Mr. Night unless your know what to look for. There is a blank spot, like a wall and there is still that glitch."

A soft chuckle filtered into the room.

The trio looked down at Mr. Night whose head was bowed. His chuckle became a laugh before he lifted his head. His eyes had changed to that vibrant reptilian green.

He sighed once and clicked his teeth. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. Impressed that you managed to get this far, but you have no idea of the powers you are messing with."

"Who are you really?" asked the Queen, "I know you are not really Chicanery Night."

Mr. Night turned his head and looked at Amoya. "I have no name. My name is whoever's identity I assume."

"So what's the game plan, then?"

"Game plan?" a laugh, "This plan runs so much deeper than you thought possible."

Mr. Night head twitched and he looked at Mr. Captiosus. "I wouldn't if I were you. Any further probing may alert...forces beyond your understanding."

Mr. Captiosus looked up from his data pad. Balem slowly leaned down in Mr. Night's face, making said splice looking at him. "I am a force beyond _your_ understanding. And it is I who have you trapped."

Mr. Night didn't look faze. In fact, he looked pretty amused. "Perhaps..." he drawled, " But like I said, you have no idea how deep this rabbit hole goes."

Balem straighten, "Then we are at an impasse."

Mr. Night licked his lips. "Not necessarily, your majesty. If I'm not seen out an about soon, they will get suspicious."

"They?" Amoya echoed.

"They." Mr. Night reaffirmed.

"There are more of you?" Mr. Captiosus asked.

Mr. Night smiled widely. A smile that seemed unnatural on his face. "Perhaps." he drawled.

"I just want to know, where is the real Mr. Night?" asked Amoya.

Mr. Night smiled, "What makes you think I am not real?"

Amoya frowned, "Don't play with me."

"But it's what I'm created for. To play games."

Mr. Captiosus eyes widen. "Wait a minute. You...you can't be."

"Be what?" asked Balem.

Mr. Captiosus turned to the two monarchs, "Majesties, if he was created...it stands to reason he is some kind of splice. The only thing I could possibly think of would be a chameleon splice."

"That's impossible!" Balem exploded.

Amoya reached out and touched his arm, calming him down. "Explanation over here."

Balem breathed and looked down at Amoya, "Chameleon splices are illegal, Amoya. They were too close to cloning and since that catastrophe was narrowly avoided, splicing with chameleons also became illegal."

Mr. Night was smirking as he surveyed the owl-splice, "My are your smart! Perhaps we should have streamed you as well."

Mr. Captiosus looked at the chameleon splice. "Stream me?"

There was about of silence. "Oh well, cat's out the bag now. I can't see you would benefit from this information even if you knew." Mr. Night gave the impression of shrugging, "Yes, we stream consciousnesses."

"Like you would a data file on a computer?" Mr. Captiosus brain was working a mile a minute putting together the pieces, "That explains the glitch."

"Yes, you are right. The glitch is a downside of our genogineering that couldn't be helped but like you said, it goes virtually undetected unless you were looking for it."

"And there are more of you?" Balem inquired.

"Maybe", Mr. Night sung.

The elder Abrasax sneered once, "I grow weary of you."

"Yet what are you going to do? Kill me?" Mr. Night mocked, "That would alert my masters and they would move onto a contingency plan."

"We only have another eight minutes", Mr. Captiosus spoke looking at the data pad. Mr. Night moved his head and found that he could wiggle his shoulders. He smirked.

"What is the first plan then?" asked Amoya.

Mr. Night slowly looked at her for a long moment. Amoya held his gaze until Mr. Night smiled widely. "Ahh, my dear." He ignored the growl from Balem and continued to look over Amoya.

"Remember your place!" Balem hissed.

Unfazed, Mr. Night turned back to Balem. "You are getting up in arms about something you have no control over. My lord, how do you know that those closest to you can be trusted?" Here his gaze shifted back to Amoya, "These are most trying times and it's best not to show your true colors."

"Like you", Balem sneered. "What a coward you must be not to show your true self."

"My true self is what is made of it", Mr. Night replied, "But despite that, I am concerned for your majesty. You don't want to be betrayed again do you? I mean after your mother...it would be a shame if someone else close to you betrayed you."

Amoya had to dart in front of Balem as he moved to attack Mr, Night. She pressed her hands into his chest and leaned into him, "He's trying to get a rise out of you, my darling. Don't give him the satisfaction."

Balem nose had flared as he breathed, his hazel eyes fixed on Mr. Night over Amoya's shoulder. His hand came up to her shoulders and held her. "No one...will talk to me about mother", he hissed raggedly his eyes still piercing Mr. Night.

"Five minutes", Mr. Captiosus spoke.

"Now what?" Mr. Night asked mildly, "Are you going to take me into custody?"

"You are remarkably calm considering." Amoya spoke turning to look over her shoulder.

"I am but a soldier."

"And a solder you will remain." Balem murmured.

Amoya and Mr. Captiosus looked at him. Balem moved Amoya out of the way, his eyes never leaving the fake Mr. Night. He took a step and squatted down on his feet. He cocked his head once surveying Mr. Night.

"If we took you into custody we would lose the advantage we have. Now that we know there is a plan, we can be on the lookout for anything out of place. Why settle for a mere pawn when we can take the Queen and win the entire game? After all you were created to play, weren't you?"

Mr. Night swallowed here at the ice in Balem's voice. He licked his lips and found that he could begin to move the upper part of his body. "I won't betray my master."

"And you won't", Balem spoke rising to his feet, "In fact you won't remember this conversation."

He gestured to Mr. Captiosus who was loading a small gun.

"I don't understand" Mr. Night admitted.

"We will blank your short term memory", Mr. Captiosus said holding up the gun.

"Then you've doomed yourselves. My masters will realize that you have tampered with my brain."

"You didn't let me finish", Mr. Captiosus spoke unfazed, "You will pass out for a few moments, just as if you took a short doze and wake up. And then we'll discuss something else, send you on your way and you'll be none the wiser. A form of memory construction."

Mr. Night's eyes widen as he began to struggle.

"Unless you want to tell us what the plan in detail is, I see no reason to delay this", Balem stated.

Mr. Night's green eyes flashed, "Never. I will never! It's not in my programming."

Balem gestured for Mr. Captiosus to continue. He walked over and tilted Mr. Night's head forward before pressing the gun to the base of his head. Mr. Night breathed once before falling over in a doze.

Mr. Captiosus walked over the desk and hide the gun. Then he walked back to the closet and closed it behind him. Amoya quickly picked up the data pad and put it on the desk while Balem picked up another data pad. A few seconds passed before Mr. Night started stirring. Opening his eyes, his green eyes were back to Mr. Night's normal color.

Once he realized he was laying on the floor Mr. Night popped to his feet. He bowed, "Majesties, forgive me!" His eyes darted around in a slight confusion. "Might I inquire as to what happened?"

Amoya pressed a hand to Balem's chest as he glared daggers at Mr. Night. "Apparently, Mr. Night, you fainted." he said mildly.

"Oh." Mr. Night mopped his brow. Yes, he remembered the fear that Balem struck in him, though it seemed strange he should pass out.

"I expect you to look into the rumor that you overlooked." Balem ordered softly, holding out the data pad.

Mr. Night took a few steps to take it from Balem, "Majesty?"

Balem glowered at him, "Don't tell me you don't even remember what we discussed. I will not repeat myself!" His voice had started it's infamous climb.

Mr. Night glanced down at the data pad. Oh right. Camou Industries rumor to have found a new Regenex or something.

Amoya played along, "Calm down."

"Sh!" Balem shot towards her before looking back at Mr. Night. "I expect you to do your duty and handle it!"

Mr. Night looked up and gave a low bow. "Of course."

Amoya smiled lightly at him as he straightened, "Perhaps you should retire. You have been working non-stop in the refineries for a while. Perhaps the heat there has affected your senses."

Mr. Night gave another bow, taking the out that his Queen was giving him. "Thank you, majesties. I will look into the matter! Rest assured!"

"You better." Balem spoke softly, his voice full of ice.

With another bow, Mr. Night turned and walked out the room. Silence followed a bit before the closet door opened. Mr. Captiosus sketched a bow as he collected his data pad on the desk and walked out.

"Majesties." he intoned.

Amoya bided him goodbye while Balem walked around his desk and retook his seat. Amoya pushed around some data pads before perching on the edge.

"Now what?" she asked eyeing him curiously.

Balem picked up a data pad and looked at it, "We wait. Come up with some kind of counter plan."

"Like what?"

Balem hazel's eyes swung to her. "I haven't gotten that far yet."

Amoya laughed once. "Balem Abrasax admitting he doesn't have all the answers. Call channel 7 news!"

Balem rolled his eyes and looked back at the data pad.

"Hey Balem."

Said male looked up at the Caribbean woman who looked serious. "You know I'm me right? That I would never betray you. I love you."

Balem mouth quirked once, "I am aware of your feelings for me."

Amoya huffed, "Jerk!"

 **TBC...**


	5. Ch 4: What's real?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 4: What's real?

 _-Vipera ship : Present day-_

Amoya stood frozen for what seemed to be an eternity. Her heart pounding in her ears.

"Balem's blood", she finally whispered, "What...what does that mean?"

Amoya lifted her hands unconsciously and looked at them. "What does that mean?" her voice pitch an octave higher.

"You really don't remember?" the disembodied voice asked.

"Remember what? I don't..." Amoya reached up and clutched her head. "I don't remember much. The last I remember is..." she paused, "Why can't I remember?"

"Don't stress yourself Amoya. You've been out like a light for 48 hours."

But Amoya wasn't listening to him as she focused inward. "I remember...an argument. I think. I don't know. Balem was...growing distant with everything going on. I think. I don't remember much. It doesn't make sense. The past week...the past..."

"I've afraid I can't say much more than this: Balem Abrasax is dead."

Amoya let out a strangle gasp as she stared unseeing.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news." the disembodied voice didn't project sorrow.

"That's...that's impossible. How? Balem..."

"I'm really surprised you don't remember. After all, in your rage you killed him."

Tears began to burn in Amoya eyes. "N-n-n-noo. No. I wouldn't. I didn't."

There was a sigh from the disembodied voice, "You don't even remember, Amoya. How do you know?"

Amoya snapped, "I know! I wouldn't kill my husband. I loved my husband."

"You said yourself that he was growing distant. I know betrayals were hitting him from every corner. It was only natural he start suspecting you."

"NO!" Amoya screamed, "I don't kill him! I would never betray him." She clutched her head and shut her eyes willing this nightmare to end.

All of a sudden Amoya's world was spinning and she found herself losing consciousness. The green eyed man caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Take her to a chamber" Captain Talipi ordered almost impassively of another crewmate. The male crewmate who looked to be splice with a bear, picked her up bridal style and lumbered down the hall with her.

"Forgive me, my lord. Seems you cannot question her further. She has passed out", the Captain reported.

"Well , I look forward to meeting her face to face. We have much to talk about. Too bad I could not hologram in but it's best not to push it."

Captain Talipi gave a nod, "Agreed sir. It will be another couple of days before we can land."

The voice seem to pause. "Everything going according to plan?"

"Yes, sir. It is. We will circle the Verse and it's galaxies awhile longer to make sure there is not trail."

"Yes, it would be remiss of us not to take the proper precautions, even if they are tedious at times. We only have one shot at this." A pause. "Amoya's lost memory was an advantage that we did not foresee. It will make things far more interesting. Is Number Twenty-one and Twenty-four with you?"

"Yes sir." the Captain beckoned the couple with the green reptilian eyes forward.

"My lord", the man intoned in his baritone accented voice.

"My lord", the woman intone, in her female tenor voice.

They both had African accented tones despite the robotic-ness quality to them.

"You have both done well. I was concerned but a little motivation goes a long way, no?"

"Yes my lord", they both chorus.

"Make sure to escort Lady Amoya here. She is under your personal supervision. Whatever mess she gets into, whatever mess she makes, you will pay the price, understand? I will have nothing go wrong now." There was a note of threat in his voice that no one missed.

"Yes, my lord", Number Twenty-one and Twenty-four chorus.

"Good. Update me as you see fit until you arrive, Captain Talipi."

"Sir!"

* * *

Amoya's eyes shot open. The first thing she noticed was her head was pounding. The second, she remembered her situation.

She sat up with a gasp. Looking around she noticed she was in a bedroom and remembered she was still aboard the ship Vipera. Out the window she saw the Verse fly by, the stars that once looked so beautiful to her, filled her with despair now.

"Balem..." she choked wrapping an her arm around herself.

Sniffing she realized then that she was clean and in a simple black dress. All traces of blood had been clean from her body.

So maybe it wasn't real?

No.

She could not forget waking up covered in blood.

She could remember that but she couldn't remember much from the recent week or so. All she had were sketchy patched together feelings and memories. The most put together thing she remembered was from about a month ago.

Then she and Balem seemed happy. His soft half smile that was usually reserved for her, appeared quite frequently then despite all that was going on in the past year. Amoya loved it when his mouth quirked in his own pseudo smile. She made it her mission to produce that look as much as she possibly could. There were times, she could even get him to laugh.

She prided herself on those moments.

Amoya smiled at the memory. Balem had a nice laugh which was more a deep quiet chuckle. He would hide his smile behind his fingers until Amoya laughed and pulled his hand away smiling at him.

Amoya's eyes went wet.

But would she ever have that chance again?

That chance to make him smile, make him laugh, no matter how rare it occurred, even when they were alone.

That thought made Amoya's heart clenched.

Did Balem die thinking she betrayed him?

Did she really kill him?

Her heart told her no. Her heart screamed at her that this was a mistake, that something wasn't right.

But her head, oh how her head ached. She absently reached up and held it. Her head, which held her memories seem all messed up. All jumbled. What was real? What wasn't? How did she know Balem was dead? She only believed what she was told and this far away from home, how could she know?

That familiar fire rose up that Amoya welcomed it. Better fiery anger than deep sorrow.

She hopped up from her bed and walked to the door. Opening it she stepped out only to find the green-eyed man standing next to her door.

"Take me to the Captain! We have some business to discuss." She snapped leaving no room for debate.

The green-eyed man eyed her before sketching a bow and wordlessly leading her back to the bridge. Upon arrival, she marched with purpose to the Captain, who's momentarily slightly widen eyes betrayed her surprise, to see Amoya.

"I want to speak with..." Amoya waved her hands over the controls realized she didn't even know who it was, "...that man from earlier." she settled on saying.

Captain Talipi eyed her. Although Amoya was taller than her, she seemed unperturbed. After some moments she finally spoke, "I'm afraid my lord is not available at the moment."

"Then make him available." the former Earthling hissed.

The Captain violet eyes stared up at Amoya. It was then she noticed that the Captain had such colored eyes. If she wasn't so mad she would have been fascinated with such a rare occurrence.

"Perhaps I might be better to inform my lord, if you could tell me what this is about?"

Amoya eyed the smaller woman. "All of you say I killed Balem. That I..." she paused. "I just realized I just took your word on that. How do I know that? I don't remember such a thing and I'm sure that kidnapping the Queen is a treacherous offense. "

The Captain nodded once. "My lord had foreseen such a thing. He has instructed me, what to do in such an instance. I can be of assistance without disturbing my lord."

"Well then!" Amoya stated clapping her hands once and holding them out as an "impress me" gesture.

Captain Talipi sketched a bow before calling for a data pad. A crewmate handed her one. She took in and pressed on it a bit while Amoya watched her impatiently. Finally she handed her the data pad hesitantly. "It is...messy. Do you still want to see?"

Amoya all but snatched the data pad and pressed her finger to it.

On it was silent video. It displayed Amoya's and Balem's bedroom. Amoya found that odd considering that they did not have cameras in their private quarters. Up to the doors yes, but not in their private quarters.

She watched as it seemed that Balem and her were having an argument, if their flying hands were anything to go by. Amoya can count the number of times she had serious some arguments with Balem on one hand.

Well, at least after their marriage.

They always argued as was their way but rarely like this.

"Is there audio?" she asked without looking up from the screen.

"No my lady." came the reply .

Amoya nodded absently.

Balem threw up his hand and walked away from her, gesturing. Amoya made a face and walked the opposite direction to the bathroom and shutting the door.

Then the video jumped to Balem and her sleeping in bed.

It was still for a bit before Amoya slowly got out of bed. She moved out of the camera range for a bit before coming back. Then it all happened quickly. On camera showed Amoya jumping on the bed with what look to be a butcher knife and plunging it into Balem's stomach...twice.

On screen, Balem screamed as he gripped the hilt. Amoya pulled out the knife and ran out the door.

And in real life, Amoya turned and vomited.

 **TBC...**


	6. Ch 5: Moving Pieces

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** I know I've been MIA, lately. I had no plans to make ya'll wait quite this long for the next chapter but the last two weeks or so has been positively HECTIC for me. I'm relatively back to normal now. So for an apology, here's a nice meaty chapter to chew on. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5: Moving Pieces

When Amoya came to, she was back in her assigned bedroom on the ship. Sitting up she grimaced at her tender stomach. Rubbing it, she remembered why it hurt.

But then again, so does so much more hurt.

Even after seeing the video, that blasted evidence, Amoya still was in denial. Even seeing herself murder her husband, it still didn't make any sense. She would never allow rage to push her to killing someone, much less someone she loved.

And yet...

Amoya turned her head, absently rocking herself in silent comfort. She noticed the data pad on the table next to her. Shakily she reached out and picked up it up. Pressing her finger to it, she woke the data pad up. The frame was still on Balem, blood staining the sheets and she nowhere to be found.

Tears poured down Amoya's face as she began to rock harder, her mouth open slightly. She tried hard to remember. To remember anything about this.

Nothing.

She looked at the screen.

A rage like she never known filled her and she threw the data pad against the opposite wall, hard enough to crack the screen and chip it a little. She found it wasn't enough as she got out of bed and leapt towards it. Sinking down to her knees she picked up the data pad and began pounding it on the floor, tears flowing out of her eyes.

Even as she saw the proof, she still couldn't believe.

There was something not right.

And if it was...

No!

Her head may be messed up but her heart...her heart said something was wrong. Something was wrong about all of this.

When she was done and most of the data pad was in pieces she threw it aside, breathing harshly. She breathed until she found herself coming back to reality and realized that she wasn't alone in the room.

She looked up to see the green-eyed couple staring down at her.

They all stared at each other for a long while.

"Who are you two?" Amoya finally asked, out of breath.

A bout of silence before the man spoke slowly, "We have no names."

Amoya forked an eyebrow, too tired to figure out what that meant.

"Is everything okay in here?" came a gruff voice from the hallway. The trio looked and saw the bear-splice peaking in surveying the damage.

"All okay", the woman replied.

The bear-splice eyed everything. "Fine, remember what they said, Twenty-one/Twenty-four, her mess is your mess.", he stated mildly, "Clean it up!" he barked before leaving muttering under his breath.

"What does he mean by that?" asked Amoya as the man leaned down and began sweeping the pieces of the data pad into a pile.

"It's...not important." came the reply.

"Well, pretend it is and humor me. What did he mean by that?" Amoya asked.

Plus she could use a distraction.

If she thought about it again...

Amoya shook herself and focused on the duo. The man looked at Amoya from where he was squatting.

"We are responsible for you, my lady." the woman said simply.

Amoya looked up at her. "Well, then if that's true. I should know the names of those responsible for me."

"Like I said, we have no names. But we are referred to by numbers. I am Number Twenty-one and that..." the man gestured to the woman, "...is Number Twenty-four."

Amoya blinked. "Twenty-one and Twenty-four? Really?"

"Our masters did not see fit to name us. Names are immaterial otherwise, my lady", Twenty-four spoke.

"So you want me to call you Twenty-one and Twenty-four? Just numbers?"

"Yes my lady", Twenty-one spoke with a small nod.

"I see." All of a sudden, a tiredness she never knew fell upon Amoya. She gazed listlessly out the window.

"We will arrive on planet Tilo tomorrow, my lady", Twenty-one said as he stood with most of the wreckage of the data pad. Twenty-four scooped down for the rest of the pieces.

Amoya didn't answer as her thoughts and heart were far away.

\- _On Jupiter: -_

It's been hectic the past three days.

On a chaotic level.

But then again, Balem Abrasax had never been assassinated before either.

With news of the elder Abrasax death circulating, the board of directors of the Abrasax Industries was in absolute chaos not knowing what to do.

"I still cannot believe that our Queen killed her husband", a female director murmured.

"Don't tell me you sympathize with her! Perhaps you are in league with the Queen!", a male director sneered.

"I am not!", she cried, "It's just she was gentle and kind. This is just so far from the left!"

"That's how women are, aren't they? They can charm and beguile their way to anything", he snorted.

"I resent that!"

"I knew she was trouble from the start!" another female director snorted, slamming her hand down on the table.

"I knew that our lord was in trouble the moment he married her. Marrying for love?!" another female director laughed, "There is no such thing!"

"Which meant, that she was after his company!" the first male director cried.

"Then where is she!" the first female director shouted.

"Of course she would have to run!", another male director shouted, "She is being hunted!"

"Technically with Balem's death, his share reverts to her. He wrote that in his will after they were married. She holds his company in her hand now." the first female director mused.

"And yet she isn't here to claim it."

Suddenly the whole boardroom erupted into chaos for the umpteenth time that day. And throughout it all, Mr. Night sat quietly observing at the head of the table. He let them duke it out, it makes no difference to him.

No difference to his master.

"No doubt one of the other Abrasax will move in!"

"Still got to get around the fact that Amoya owns the company."

"Unless she's dead or in jail", came Mr. Night's voice that cut through the room.

Everyone quieted.

"The will states she gets his share yes, but she can't if she's dead. And it also states if she winds up in jail for the duration then her share reverts to the Abrasax family meaning either Lord Titus or Lady Kalique can take a grab at the company."

"So where does that leave us!" a board member yelled.

Mr. Night sighed. "This is a trying time, I realize, but right now, the Aegis will be here in the next couple of days to take the body of Balem Abrasax and confirm him dead. Once that happens we will have to play it by ear."

Mr. Night stood and walked out. The room was silent a good five seconds before they began to debate again. Mr. Night walked the familiar strip of hallway. He was careful not to look directly at any cameras as he made his way to the room.

The room he entered was a morgue like room. He shivered at the cold temperature before making his way to a cubby that was human size. He waved a hand over it and it ejected out. Mr. Night cocked his head, looking through the clear glass over the body.

"Master will be pleased", he murmured under his breath. He smirked once, his eyes flashing green as he studied the body of Balem Abrasax.

Balem lay, pale and blue. A black sheet was over his body.

Mr. Night tapped the top of the glass once, his voice low so no one could hear, "Master wants you to know that he will take very good care of your company and from what I'm alerted to, very good care of your wife as well."

Mr. Night gave a chuckle before waving his hand over the end of the cubby. He watched it slide back into place before turning and walking out.

Cold silence drifted in the room.

It was quite awhile afterwards, before a tall man in a long black lab coat stepped into the doorway. On his face was a black surgical like mask. He had red hair and brown eyes. He glanced to where a camera was and reached up behind it and attached a small black box.

He paused a moment before walking into the room. Purposely he made his way to the same cubby and waved his hand over it. The box body of Balem Abrasax slid out. The man pressed on the side of the cubby and the entire clear box floated out of the cubby.

He placed another small black box on top of the boxed body of the elder Abrasax and it changed to look like a table with a bunch of boxes on it. A black cloth covered the supposed boxes. Taking out another similar black box he tossed it inside the empty cubby and it changed to look like the clear boxed body of Balem Abrasax.

That done, the man pushed his "boxed goods" out of the room. He parked it in the hallway and stepped back in the room, to the camera, taking the black box off from behind it. He slipped it into his coat before continuing with his "boxed goods", to a nearby elevator.

Once on, the mysterious man stuck his hand in his pocket before pushing a button. Unbeknownst to the camera, a replica of a button was placed over the button.

The elevators goes down a few floors before stopping.

The man doesn't go through the yawning door. After a second the door closes and the elevator goes down a few more floors despite the fact that it register getting off at the previous floor when the door was open.

When the elevator door opens once again, the man's form changes to that of a burly short man with black hair and dark eyes, wearing black overalls.

He pushes the floating table of perceive boxes out and down the hall. He passes a few guards and nod. "Storage", he gruff out.

The guards say nothing.

Walking into a huge storage room, he waited for the door to shut behind him. There are no cameras in the huge room. He pushes his "storage" to a side door and waves his hand over it and pushes it through.

Once in that room, filled with junk, he purposely walks over to a particular spot, surveying the floor. Apparently finding what he wanted, he moves the junk out the way. That done, he kneels down and pushes the space between the titles of the floor and a whole section of the floor moves back revealing a hidden compartment.

The burly man, pulls the table of "boxes" down with him as he climbs down the stairs. When his feet touches the bottom, he reaches blindly in the night for the switch. Having found it, he illuminates the small room, just as the door overhead shuts.

The room was sizable like a large living room. Behind the stairs was a bed and a toilet and small shower stall. Across from them on the other wall, was a bunch of TV screens, put together like one giant screen. All of them were off at the moment. Directly across from the stairs, was a kitchen like area.. There were a few tables littered throughout. The room wasn't all the extravagant.

The burly man looked up a moment before sighing. Pressing something in his ear, his form disappears to be that of Mr. Captiosus. Wordlessly, he picked up the small black box over the table and his "boxed goods" once again reveal itself to be the glass coffin of Balem Abrasax.

Mr. Captiosus pressed a code on the side of the box and it opened and disappeared like a window rolling down automatically, leaving only the floating table. The owl-splice pushed the table around to the bed and managed to situated Balem's body onto the bed.

Rearranging the black covers over the sovereign he surveyed him. He nodded to himself when he noticed that Balem wasn't quite blue or pale as before.

Mr. Captiosus grabbed a nearby data pad. "Not long now." he murmured shortly. "I will be back as soon as I can, my lord", he spoke before touching his ear.

His form changed to the burly man once more before pulling the table back around to the stair and up it. The door overhead shut once again after a few moments leaving the room pitch black.

 **TBC...**


	7. Ch 6: What's in a name?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 6: What's in a name?

\- _Vipera ship:_ -

The door to Amoya's room opened and Twenty-four stepped in. Her green eyes sought and found Amoya sitting on the window seat looking out the window.

"We will be arriving and disembarking in an hour.", Twenty-four reported. She stood for a long moment awaiting an response.

Amoya looked up at the taller woman at length. "Sure." she nodded once, absently.

Twenty-four furrowed her eyebrow slightly and then nodded once. She turned to walk out of the room before a soft voice stopped her.

"Twenty-four was it?"

Twenty-four turned around to see Amoya looking at her. "Do you like your...name?" she asked.

"It is suitable."

Amoya nodded, "Tell me, do you like it when someone refers to you as a number? It sounds impersonal."

Twenty-four's eyes darted as if she was trying to process this. "I do not understand. It doesn't matter what you are called."

"It matters to me."

Twenty-four was silent, not knowing how to respond.

Amoya laughed once and looked back out the window. "I never thought that I would grow to love the name Balem. I mean, you must admit, it's an odd name." she laughed once, "But...it fits him." She leaned her forehead on the glass and murmured, "It suited Balem. And I grew to love his name as much as I love the man. I love the fact that I could say his name and he would answer."

Amoya took in a shuddering breath, "He would answer and now..." here she trailed off, "He will never answer again. Even if he survived that...he would never survived the heartbreak of my betrayal. Whether it was real or not, he died thinking I killed him."

Amoya's voice broke once as Twenty-four looked on, something flickering in her green eyes as she watched. "And I have to live with that." Her hand snaked up to press to her heart, "I don't remember anything...but that doesn't matter because I have to live with that."

The former Queen wiped away the stray tears as she stood. She gazed at Twenty-four, not really seeing her, "That's why names are important. Because somewhere, there is someone that would call you by your name. And if you don't have one...what do they call you by? You know?"

Twenty-four furrowed her brow and slowly nodded. "Yes, perhaps I see this, my lady."

Amoya nodded as she walked to the washroom. "Let me know when we get off this bloody ship."

"Yes, my lady", Twenty-four intoned as she turned and walked out.

She kept walking, lost in thought. Coming to a room she waved a hand and the door opened. She walked in still in thought. Twenty-one sat cross legged on the floor, eyes closed. They opened as Twenty-four entered.

"What is it, Twenty-four?"

"It's her Ladyship."

"What?"

"She is...quite odd", Twenty-four spoke, trying to piece together her thoughts.

"No messes for us to clean?" the man asked mildly.

The young woman took a seat on the small bed, "No nothing like that."

Twenty-one blinked as he took in Twenty-four far-away look. "Your look, explain that." he said.

"I am uncertain how to."

"Explain." came the softer order.

Twenty-four looked down at Twenty-one whose eyes were piercing hers. "Do you think it matters that we have no real names?"

Twenty-one blinked slowly at this. He parted his mouth once before closing it. Twenty-four stared at him in earnest.

"What?" he finally settled on to say, confusion coloring his tone.

"I have heard it said that a name is an identity and we have none."

Twenty-one blinked, "Twenty-four, we have no identities. We assume whatever identity is given to us. You know this."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

Twenty-one eyes narrowed, "You are skating a fine line, Twenty-four. Do not let that woman get to you."

Twenty-four's vibrant eyes never strayed from Twenty-one as he closed his eyes. "But you have thought of these things too?" she whispered.

There was a bout of silence before Twenty-one sighed and opened his eyes looking down at his hands. "Yes. I have", he whispered.

Twenty-four sunk to the floor in front of him, "And it shouldn't be wrong, right?" she pressed under her breath.

Twenty-one's hand shot out and grabbed the back of Twenty-four's head and brought it close, his eyes flashing. "It's such talk that landed us here." he hissed, "You know we are not looked on favorably among out chameleon spliced kin. Such talk will get us killed."

"If only that was so. If it was just death..." Twenty-four trailed off seeming unfazed by her position.

Twenty-one's eyes soften as he leaned his head against hers. "It is our fate. This is why were created. To be no-one and everyone at the same time."

They sat there in silence for a bit before Twenty-one moved releasing her. He stood, "Come, we have a job to do. The hour is almost up. We will be landing soon."

"Why do I feel bad about this?" Twenty-four asked as she stood.

Twenty-one gave her a warning glare as she clutched his arm.

"Her ladyship is..." Twenty-four tried to find the proper word for what she has witnessed.

"Upset? Sad?" Twenty-one supplied.

"Yes, that's it. Sad. Does her actions...that mean sad?" Twenty-four stumbled over the unfamiliar words.

"From what I understand of humans, that is an emotion they can have", Twenty-one stated.

"And she was...sad...because her husband is dead?"

"Yes, Twenty-four."

"But...why? Why is she sad that he's dead? I don't understand."

"Human emotions are complicated, be glad we don't have them."

Twenty-four looked up at her companion, "How would we know if we do or don't have them?"

"They told us we don't."

"Then why..."

Slight exasperation colored Twenty-one's voice, "Twenty-four, please, now is not the time. We have to go."

Twenty-four nodded once. " Very well" she intoned. Twenty-one nodded once as they exited the room.

Amoya stood staring at the approaching planet from her spot on the bridge. Twenty-one and Twenty-four stood silently behind her along with the Captain besides her.

"The planet Tilo, my lady."

"I've never heard of Tilo", Amoya murmured absently.

"One of the furthest reaches of the galaxy of the Consilia Intinge-way.

Amoya searched her memory bank and was relieved that made some sense, "That is the third level galaxy isn't it?"

So far there are three galaxies that are known. Each one is assigned an level.

The Milky Way, where Earth was located was the first level.

Second level was Consilia Archway.

Third level was Consilia Intinqe-way.

She was relieved she could remember something. A cold comfort with her mind right now. She reached up and absently rubbed her head. Still it ached. Since that first day, every morning she woke, she woke with a headache.

Must be the stress.

She gave a small sigh. as she watched the planet Tilo approach. It looked to be slightly smaller than Earth but looked pretty similar as Amoya's native planet. Once they dropped out of the atmosphere of Tilo, the were flying over a body of water. Eventually a large palace atop a cliff came into view. It looked like a Chinese-type castle that Amoya had seen in photos and movies. It was a breathtaking sight but Amoya couldn't be excited like she used to. The palace seemed to blend into the grass and trees around it, as it was a green-yellow-brown color scheme.

Vipera eventually touched down on and docked. Once docked, Amoya was escorted off the ship, following Captain Talipi. The Twenties trailed behind her.

They were met by a tall woman with green hair flowing down to her waist. Her skin was the color of sand and she was wearing a green kimono-like garb. Her almond like eyes were lined with kohl and were vibrant green like the Twenties were. Amoya glanced back at them.

The woman glanced the chamelon-spliced duo, dismissing them with a gaze even as they both bowed to her in sync. She turned to Amoya and gave a deep bow.

"Welcome to Tilo, my Lady. I am Mistress Thirty-three. Please, your quarters are already situated and awaiting your use. My master reckons that you are tired. Dinner will be served soon. You have plenty of time to wash up and rest. Sounds good?"

"Very well." said Amoya. The prospect of resting for a bit appealed to Amoya, as all of a sudden she was feeling very fatigue.

Mistress Thirty-three gave another low bow. "Very good." She straightened, "Please follow me."

Once more the Twenties bowed in sync as Mistress Thirty-three harrumphed, before smiling at Amoya and walking off. Amoya followed with a frown. She glanced back to see the Twenties going another way.

The chamber that Amoya was assigned was spacious. It had a very Asian type flair, though from what Amoya saw walking to her room, it too had a green/yellow/white color scheme. Amoya was never fond of the color green unless it was on a tree, but at least the hues of green wasn't puke green. Come to think of it, Amoya felt very relaxed the longer she stayed in the room. It had a calming effect.

Amoya Abrasax let out a yawn before gazing at the large futon bed. It was a bit low for Amoya's taste but was still sitting a ways off the ground.

She walked over and fell into bed.

Shutting her eyes she drifted off and was asleep in minutes.

 **TBC...**


	8. Ch 7: Identity Crisis

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 7: Identity Crisis

"Well, well, well! I am surprised the two of you managed not to botch this up!"

The Twenties were walking back to their housing, when a tall young woman stepped into their view.

She was wearing the customary green kimono of the Tilo planet and fanning herself with a small green-yellow fan. However, she was an albino with extremely pale skin, almost a literal shade white. Her shoulder length hair was white, but if you looked closely you could see that there were greenish-white streaks running through it. She had a flower barrette in her hair. Her face was round almost doll-like with large eyes and pouty lips. Her eyes were the standard vibrant reptilian green.

The Twenties both bowed and intoned, "Miss Forty-four."

Forty-four chuckled darkly as she looked down at the two. "Word got around about your...success." She brought the fan to her mouth and looked over it, "Not that I'm impressed any, mind you. I mean, you had an relatively easy job. At least, it would have been easy for me."

"Of course, Miss Forty-four", Twenty-four intoned.

Forty-four eyed the two. "So, how was it?"

"How was what, miss?" asked Twenty-one.

Fourty-four's eyes narrowed and she lowered the fan. "The job, you dope. Wasn't it marvelous fun?" Here she gave an airy laugh.

The chameleon spliced male inclined his head once, "Of course, miss."

Forty-four sighed slamming the fan close in her palm. She pouted. "I forgot who I was talking to. The two of you don't know how to have fun. Your..." here she sneered, "...so-called emotions get in the way. You know, I don't know why Master Camou keeps you around. All the rest of your batch was destroyed. Not like you two are any better."

With those words she whipped around and walked away.

The duo stood for a moment before finishing their walk to their housing. They each had a small room, next door to each other. Truth be told, their room wasn't anything to write home about. It wasn't much bigger than a medium-square sized storage room. It didn't even have much of the Asian flair that the rest of the compound had. It was pretty common. But peaking into either of their rooms, you'd realized they didn't have much more in the way of possessions, compared to some of the others of the household.

Twenty-one entered his room followed by Twenty-four who shut the door behind them. Twenty-one flopped down on his small bed, which was really too short for his frame.

"Twenty-one..."

"Don't start." Twenty-one cut in softly as he stared up to the ceiling. "Just...don't start."

Twenty-four lingered a moment before exiting to go to her room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

* * *

Amoya stirred and rolled over, snuggling into something pretty warm and fluffy. It took a few moments for her to wake up. When she opened her eyes, she remembered where she was and sat up to look around. A yawn and stretch escaped her.

That was the best sleep she got since all this started.

Amoya shook herself as her mind started down a trail she had revisited so many times. She we not going to cry about it right now. She needed a clear head to figure this out. Speaking of heads, her head still ached but it wasn't as bad as it had been.

At least at the moment.

Amoya would take what she could get. Looking towards the window she noticed it was light outside, like it was day.

A sliding sound resounded, making Amoya's head whip towards it. The door slid to the side and Mistress Thirty-three stood smiling. Two attendants in white robes stood behind her. They entered the room.

"Ahh, you are finally awake!" Mistress Thirty-three exclaimed with a smile. "You came in yesterday and passed out. My master said to let you sleep since you were so peaceful and had been through so much. There was no rush. Now that you are awake you can prepare for breakfast."

She clapped her hands at the two attendants came around and began helping Amoya get ready.

"Also my Lady, my master, concerned for your safety, has ordered a makeover."

Amoya's found she was having trouble keeping up and blinked, "Excuse me?"

* * *

It took three hours for Amoya to get ready. Most of which was spent changing her hairstyle and her nails.

Her curly black hair was straightened and extensions were added that made her hair go from black to an dark honey down to her chin. Either side of her hair was shaved, giving her a Mohawk look. She wondered why they thought this looked good on her. Her nails were long and painted a dark green which she abhorred. Even the green kimono was beginning to sicken her.

Looking in the mirror, she hated what she saw, but she had no time to further observed herself or think about it for she as promptly escorted to the dining hall.

In any other situation, Amoya would have taken more interest in the beauty around her but found she couldn't muster up much beyond the basics. That and her head was beginning to hurt even more again.

However the dining hall, was like the rest of what Amoya had seen so far. Chinese themed, with ornate symbols on the walls. It was spacious with a square table and with two chairs on the opposite long ends, in the middle of the room. In the ceiling hung lanterns.

And sitting at the head of the table, was a man who stood when she entered.

"Lady Amoya, it is a pleasure to break my fast with you this morning!", the man exclaimed as he began walking to towards her. When he got close enough, Amoya felt a prick of familiarity.

He folded his hand and bowed over them in a customary greeting, "I am Ajay Camou of the House of Camou."

"House of Camou?" Amoya echoed.

Ajay Camou was olive skinned with long black hair, put up in a high ponytail, so it was out of his face. His face was chiseled, with black almond eyes and a small mouth. He wore an Chinese type robe, much like a hanfu, with a stand up collar. And in keeping with the color theme, his hanfu was light green with white and yellow symbols over it.

He straightened and stood like an Emperor, though his mouth quirked when he looked down at Amoya for he was quite a bit taller than her. Even taller than her husband.

Now she knew why this tall, wiry man was familiar to her.

Her eyes narrowed, "You."

"Me." Ajay quirked with a small smile.

"Ajay Camou of the Camou Industries?"

Camou Industries was a rival competitor of the Abrasax's Industries. They have barely managed to keep up with the Abrasax Industries, threatening to lose all their power by the end of the century. Amoya had never met Ajay Camou in the 12 years she had been in this new world, which wasn't as new to her as it used to be.

Ajay captured her hand and brought it to his lips. His dark eyes never left hers. Pulling back he gave a brilliant smile, "My lady, I thank you for joining me." His eyes took in her new look. "You look beautiful."

Amoya winkled her nose, "It's not like I had a choice, did I?"

Ajay smiled but didn't release her hand. Amoya suffered his touch a moment longer before pulling her hand back. "We all have a choice, Lady Amoya."

"Then I choose to leave." Amoya snapped.

Ajay inclined his head, "And go where, my lady? You are being hunted as we speak. The Aegis are currently focusing their hunt solely on you."

"I didn't do anything."

Ajay held up his hands. "Please, my lady. Let us sit and discuss this over a meal. I'm sure you must be starving. I heard you didn't eat much on the ship."

Amoya's mouth flatten in a thin line but she nodded briskly. Ajay gestured to the table and walked over. He pulled out a chair, helping Amoya seat herself. Once she was situated, Ajay took the seat opposite her.

They were silent as the servants served them. Once done, Ajay ordered everyone out so it was just the two of them. "Please!" he gestured with a smile to her food to start eating.

Amoya eyed it a moment.

"I'm wounded, my lady. Do you think I would go through all of this to poison you?" Ajay asked swallowing a bite of food.

Amoya glared at him a moment before taking a bite.

"I had heard that the Queen loved all manner of food. I trust it's to your satisfaction?"

Amoya swallowed. "It's good." He was right, there was a time when she would have enjoyed a splendid meal. But now, it all tasted like sawdust in her mouth.

"Now, that we are settled in, let's talk business. I always find business best conducted over a good meal unlike many." Ajay stated.

Amoya looked up at him, "I want to go home."

"As I said, you are being hunted."

"Once they hear what I have to say..."

"Please your majesty..." Ajay waved his fork in a circle, "...they see you coming and they will arrest you on sight. And when they get their hands on that video, which make no mistake, they will, it's all they need to lock you up."

Amoya scoffed, "I didn't do it!" she cried, "I don't even remember such a thing."

Ajay grimaced, "Well, that makes it even worse, my lady. You are on tape committing a horrendous crime and you just happen not to remember it? Even I would need a better story than that."

The ex-Earthling grumbled, "It doesn't make it any less true." She was loathed to admit that she did see his point though.

Ajay leaned forward with a soft smile, "Make no mistake, lady Amoya. I believe you. I am on your side. Truly. In fact..."

Here his hand snaked over hers. Amoya looked down at his larger hand covering hers. "...I want to lend you my assistance. I want to help you. I can get you out of this."

Still Amoya stared at his hand, "How?"

"Swear your loyalty to me and you will come under my protection."

Amoya jerked her hand out from under his and placed them in her lap. She glared up at him.

Ajay smiled. "I have good lawyers. I can get you out of this, no worries. In fact, it would be optimal for both of us, if you would marry me and combine our resources, as it were."

Amoya blanched and gaped at him, "You must be joking."

Ajay's smile disappeared slowly as he sat back, angling his head down, narrowing his eyes once, "I like to have fun, yes but I don't joke."

Amoya mind whirled. "Wha-what?"

"Lady Amoya you are now alone in this world. Alone and hunted." Ajay sat forward and said urgently, "Give it enough time and the Aegis will track you down. I have instructed my ship, Vipera, to take the long way around but still, the fact remains, that as long as you are a single leaf blowing in the wind, they have a better chance at capturing you." Here he paused and his mouth quirked, "But together we can create a better storm. As it were."

Amoya swallowed, her eyes beginning to get wet. What he said had some truth to it. She was alone now. Even if she wanted to go back to her former home on Earth, how long would she live in peace before they came after her? In fact, that might be the first place they looked.

She lowered her head. Her eyes caught the a glint on her hand. She flexed her fingers, noticing the signifying ring, glowing around her ring finger. She cocked her head studying it, remembering.

Remembering their wedding day.

Usually, weddings among the Entitled were matters of state and not of heart. At least that is what Amoya was told. But she knew it was different for the two of them and that baffled the universe. She knew from the start that there would be many that didn't understand why Balem married her. Still didn't after all these years. There were those that expected Balem to drop her any day now.

They had been waiting for that day for near 12 years.

Amoya pitied them for not understanding rather than taking offense. Especially as she grew and began to understand how the universe actually operated. Very few understood marrying for love, rather than financial gain.

But Amoya would never be able to live like that. She'd rather have not married at all then married for a means to an end.

But that is what most Entitles saw marriage as, a means to an end. Just that. No more, no less.

And Ajay Camou was no exception.

He had to want something more from her, more than just wanting to protect her out of the goodness of whatever heart he may have.

For Amoya this meant more than just a business transaction. "Marrying you..." she drawled finally, "Marrying into a rival company of the Abrasax Industries?"

She gave a humorless chuckle as she lifted her head to look at Ajay who was watching her, "Balem Abrasax would turn over in his grave."

Ajay blinked at her, "But at the end of day, he is dead. Well, his reoccurrence may be born someday but that is someday and not any time soon, believe me."

Amoya's eyes flashed as started to say something but Ajay held up his hand and pushed forward, "He is dead and he cannot protect you anymore. You need to think of yourself now."

Amoya stood, her stomach rebelling, "Unlike you, marriage to me means so much more than that. I cannot and will not forsake those vows."

Ajay laughed once confused, "What? What vows?"

"I don't expect you to understand that I loved Balem Abrasax and I will not betray him."

Ajay stood, "But you already have."

Amoya clutched her hands into fists thankfully that her long billowed sleeves hid them from view. Ajay's black eyes saw the tension in her form and he cocked his head.

"I don't remember what happened but I will not further betray my husband, dead or not. I will not spit on his grave and I will not marry you. Whatever it is you are after, you will not get!" Amoya snapped, "Now, take me back to my room!"

Without waiting for an answer she turned on her heel and walked out the door. Ajay Camou chuckled once. "Such fire!" he mused. He chuckled again.

* * *

Amoya was pacing in her room, trying to work off the anger. She couldn't seem to keep still. She walked by a mirror the umpteenth time but his time she stopped.

She took in her mowhawk-ish hair style. Her green nails and eye shadow along with her green kimono.

She hated the hair style.

She hated the nails.

She hated the look.

She was sure that Balem would hate it as well.

It wasn't her.

None of this was her.

She reached up and rubbed the makeup off, smearing it, along with a few stray tears.

"Balem", she murmured.

 **TBC...**


	9. Ch 8: The Tide Turns

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Nice long chapter for everyone! Enjoy! And thanks for the reviews I've received this far! It's so exciting reading them!

* * *

Chapter 8: The Tide Turns

Mr. Night stood in the ship hanger of Jupiter as he watched an Aegis ship docked. Once docked the doors opened and a small crew exited.

The rat-splice stepped forward and sketched a bow, "Welcome Aegis, we have been expecting you."

A tall dark skin woman with her black hair pulled back, walked off the ship with a few crewmates. She stood erect in her Aegis uniform.

"I am Captain Tsing, here to retrieve the body of Balem Abrasax to take back to be properly examined", she stated briskly.

"Of course, Captain. I can appreciate getting right to business." Mr. Night gestured, "Right this way."

Captain Tsing inclined her head and the small group followed Mr. Night into the building. "It has been quite hectic around here since our lord's death", Mr. Night spoke.

"Clearly." Captain Tsing replied as various beings were running to and fro.

"We are in a bit of limbo right now, I'm afraid. We don't know where we're going to land. It's sad that our Queen is the cause of this. I had come to admire her in later years. Has she been captured yet?"

"You would have known if she had. The Aegis have been stretched to the limit trying to find her. We have not succeeded so far, but there is only so many places she can hide in the galaxies."

"So you don't have an idea where she is?"

Captain Tsing eyed the rat-splice. "We are working on a lead. That is why it has taken this long to recover the body of Balem Abrasax. Hopefully, his body will yield some clues."

"Clues?" Mr. Night's eyebrow raised.

"Indeed." The Captain voice was clipped, ending the conversation.

It took a few minutes of walking to arrive at the morgue. He lead them up to the cubby and opened it. Out slid the body of Balem Abrasax, covered with a black sheet looking the same as the last time Mr. Night had seen him.

"My poor lord", the rat-splice mourned before stepping out of the way.

Captain Tsing stepped forward, her eyes searching. Finally she looked up at Mr. Night who smiling pleasantly. "Is this a joke?"

"Pardon?!" Mr. Night blinked.

Captain Tsing reached out with her hand and passed right through the box. Mr. Night blinked again.

"This is a hologram."

"That's impossible!" Mr. Night cried before he too tried to touch the box only to find that his hand passed through. He gaped, "I...I don't understand."

Captain Tsing turned to a leopard-splice. "Shut down this building. We have a missing body." She turned, her dark eyes drilling into Mr. Night, "Do we?"

Mr. Night's voice pitched higher, "Of-of course! He's dead! A dead body cannot just up and walk!"

"I just want to know if I'm wasting my crew's and more importantly my time with this." There was a clear warning in the Captain's voice.

Mr. Night practically wrung his hands, "Captain, I swear, I saw the body myself the other day. He was here! He couldn't have just up and walked away."

"Hmm." Captain Tsing eyed him a moment longer before turning back to the leopard splice, "As I said, shut down the buildings, we have a body to find."

The crew filed out leaving Mr. Night wring his hands. His head was lowered as he muttered to himself, "Master's not going to be pleased. He's not."

Within a few hours all of Jupiter was shut down. More Aegis were called to patrol and search for the missing body of Balem Abrasax. The news made its way around Jupiter and once again the board of directors had something else to fight about.

Mr. Night had found a few moments to break away from the group, pleading that he needed a moment to tend to his growing headache. Once in his room, he laid down and shut his eyes, breathing deeply. Then he threw his mind, backwards.

* * *

"Master Camou, urgent business!" Mistress Thirty-three busted into the room where Ajay Camou was currently drawing on a low table on the floor.

Ajay climbed to his feet and followed Mistress Thirty-three out of the door, "What is it?" he demanded.

Mistress Thirty-three handed him a data pad. "I don't know, but Forty-seven pause his stream."

The duo got to a door and Ajay waved a hand over it. They walked down the long winding stairs, deep underground.

It was a large laboratory like room. There was no end that could be visibly seen. On one side housed coffins, many of which were empty but a few held bodies strapped in with wires coming out of them and out of the box they were in. In one such coffin held the body of Mr. Night.

Ajay walked up and surveyed the sleeping splice. Well, more like he was in a deep coma unaware of anything that was happening.

"How is the body?" he asked.

A short red-hair man with freckles on this face and green eyes wearing a dark green almost black lab coat walked up. He wore glasses that he continually pushed up on his nose.

"Mr. Night is fine, however, Forty-seven urgently needs to speak directly with you."

Ajay nodded and followed the man to the other side of the room where there were many computers and TV screens. There were other beings splices, robots and human monitoring everything.

"This better be good Forty-seven", Ajay spoke looking at a large computer monitor, "Why did you pause your stream of Mr. Night's consciousness? You've never broke consciousness before like this."

Onscreen was a young man. He was albino like Miss Forty-four with short white hair that framed his face and fell as wisps into his eyes. Like most, his eyes were a vibrant reptilian green. His face as rectangular with defined cheeks that almost looked like he had dimples.

"Forgive me, Master but I bring grave news."

Ajay's eyes narrowed, "What is it?"

Forty-seven paused a moment.

"You did not come back this way to get tongue-tied now. Speak!" Ajay snapped.

"Balem's body is missing." the chameleon spit out quickly.

Ajay blinked slowly, much like a reptile. "Excuse me?" he asked airly.

Forty-seven licked his white lips nervously, "I don't know what happened, but the Aegis came to claim the body and...it was a hologram."

Ajay breathed through his nose, his mouth tight, "Okay. So...where is the body?" he asked mildly.

Forty-seven's eyes darted around before he shrugged helplessly. "The Aegis have shut down Jupiter to search for it. They even suspect we are wasting their time."

Ajay's eyes narrowed. His voice lowered and he drawled, "You are part of the Forties of my chameleon-splices. You are the best batch and you come back to tell me, that you lost a body?"

Forty-seven gulped. "It wasn't my fault...I..."

"Silence."Ajay hissed holding up his hand. Forty-seven quieted. The room had stopped to watch also quieted. "For your sake, you better hope this can be savaged." he hissed.

"Yes master", Forty-seven inclined his head.

Ajay brought his hand up to his chin. "This information is not to get back to Lady Amoya." Here he paused again. "I must alert our conference about this. Continue as Mr. Night, Forty-seven. Update as you see fit, but find that body!"

Without awaiting an answer, Ajay spun on his heel and walked out.

* * *

Amoya lifted her head from her arms as a knock resounded on her door. She was still in her temporary bedroom, sitting on the floor, leaning on her futon.

"Come in", she croaked. She cleared her throat as the door slid to the side.

"Lady", Twenty-one and Twenty-four intone, bowing.

"Twenty- one. Twenty-four." Amoya grimace inwardly at calling someone a number, "What can I do for you?"

"We were asked by our master to sit with you for a bit. Apparently there is some urgent business going on and he wants you to be safe", Twenty-one replied taking a seat by the door, crossing his legs.

The two had been told about the latest development and was assigned to Amoya to make sure that word did not reach her. Ajay had to alert the conference and he didn't want Amoya wandering around and into something she had no business.

Twenty-four came further into the room before sitting cross legged on the floor. She gave a small nod and smile to Amoya.

Amoya didn't say anything. What could she say? She only sighed. Silence floated for a bit before she realized that Twenty-four was trying to inconspicuously study her. Twenty-one had his eyes close in a meditative state.

"I know I don't look my best right now." Amoya finally directed to Twenty-four.

Said woman snapped back and shook her head. "You look fine, lady." she tried to stiffen up.

Amoya gave a humorless laugh. Her makeup was still smeared as she didn't bother to wash it off. Her clothes were on sloppily. Her hair...she shuddered. She couldn't help but run her hand through it, in morbid fascination. It didn't even feel like her.

She guessed it was just as well.

She has felt lost as of late, unsure of where to turn.

Amoya shook herself. She need to get a clear head. She glanced at the duo. "So, tell me about you guys", she asked, turning around so that her back was up against her bed. She may as well try to learn the rules of this new world she's was in.

Twenty-one opened his eyes and stared at her. Twenty-four's eyebrow shot up. They were both silence for a long bit.

"Well?" asked Amoya.

"There is nothing to tell, my lady", Twenty-one stated shutting his eyes again.

Amoya snorted. "I doubt that."

"We are no-one", Twenty-four said.

"If you were no-one you wouldn't exist."

Twenty-four seemed stumped at that. Amoya looked at her. "Let's try something simple. What are you guys? I mean the eyes...are you splices?"

Twenty-four glance at Twenty-one whose eyes were open and on her. "We are...chameleon splices." He offered after a moment of silence.

"Interesting. So what does that mean?" asked Amoya.

"Mean?"

"Yea, what does it mean?"

The chameleon splices glanced at each other. Amoya was beginning to see that such questions were going over their heads.

"You don't have names. You have numbers. You are chameleon splices and you claim you are no-one. What does it all mean?"

"I...we are just..." Twenty-four shrugged.

Amoya smiled lightly at her. "I noticed that Mistress Thirty-three is a number as well. Only Ajay has a name."

"Master Camou is an Entitled. A human. We are chameleon splices and defective at that."

"Twenty-four!"

Said woman jumped and looked at Twenty-one who was giving her a warning look.

"No, it's okay. Really. I want to know.", Amoya soothed.

Twenty-one looked at her in surprised.

"Know what my lady?" Twenty-four asked.

"Well, why the numbers and why you consider yourself defective? You look okay to me." Amoya smiled once.

Twenty-four blinked and looked down at herself. Twenty-one just looked confused. Amoya laughed once. These two were kind of adorable. They reminded her of children.

Twenty-four looked up at Amoya's brown eyes who looked at her kindly. Who was this woman? They had been told that this lady was a bad person. Before they took the job they were briefed as all chameleon's splices are before they are sent on assignment. They were told the universe would be better with Amoya under their control because she lacked what was required to run the universe properly.

But looking at Amoya's kind face, Twenty-four was beginning to get more and more confused. She already felt bad about the job they performed, when they aren't suppose to, but looking at the tear-streaked makeup smeared woman before her, she wondered why she as taking time to be nice to them.

Twenty-four opened her mouth, "We..."

"Twenty-four..." came the warning.

Said woman glanced over her shoulder at Twenty-one. He was better at controlling these feelings than her. She was far more curious. She always wondered if her curiosity would get them killed one day. But it would be far worse than death.

At least that is what they were told. That there was a fate far worse than death but now that Twenty-four was thinking, what was worse than death?

Neither of them ever questioned it.

"It's okay", Amoya waved away trying to dispel the tension, "However, personally I feel weird calling you numbers to your face. May I give you names?"

Both Twenties were shocked into a stupor. Twenty-four recovered first. "A name? You mean like you?" she asked.

Amoya saw her eyes shining at the prospect.

Amoya smiled and nodded, "Yes."

"What would you name us?"

Amoya looked up at Twenty-one who looked at her curiously. She saw he was trying to be indifferent but he prospect made him curious.

"Well..." Here Amoya paused to think. She turned to Twenty-four, "I've always like the name Dalila."

"Does it mean something?" Twenty-four asked her eyes wide.

"Swahili for gentle."

"Swahili?"

"It's an African name. Africa is a country on my home planet."

"Dalila." Twenty-four mused. She gave a brilliant smile, "I love it."

Amoya nodded once and turned to Twenty-one who was trying not to look excited. "Naveen. It's an East Indian name, means new."

Twenty-one inclined his head before lowering it but not before Amoya saw the smile.

"Does your name mean anything?" Twenty-four asked.

"Closest to Amoy, which is an Jamaican name meaning beautiful goddess."

"How do you know these meanings?" Twenty-four asked.

Amoya smiled once. "I was once obsessed with name meanings. My name was not given to me by my parents."

"Parents?"

"Like a splicer. The one that created you. Though we call it birthing you. My name was chosen for me by..." Amoya trailed off .

Twenty-four looked at her curiously, as Amoya's eyes clouded for a few moment before she seem to snap back. With a shrug and half smile she added, "So because of that I was obsessed with name meanings."

Twenty-four nodded once.

* * *

Mr. Captiosus eyed the commotion on Jupiter. Everyone was running around trying to find the missing body of Balem Abrasax. He had managed to break away for a few moments, using his hologramed look to make his way back to the storage.

Entering the hidden compartment, the lights were already on. Once his foot touched the ground he spoke, "I only have a few minutes my lord. As you can see, its chaos up there."

He walked around the stairs to the bed. The computer monitors were on, showing various location of the palace. There were three however that were...of an odd sort of picture. It wasn't all the way off.

And Balem Abrasax, first primary of the House of Abrasax sat on the bed facing the monitors dressed in nothing but slacks and a long sleeved shirt. He didn't even have his choker on. It seemed foreign to see him without it, even to Mr. Captiosus's eyes.

Balem's hazel eyes looked up to Mr. Captiosus. "This better be worth it." he hissed. He absently rubbed his stomach before looking back at the monitors.

"How do you feel?" the owl-splice asked.

"I'm sitting in a storage room while those fools are searching for my "missing dead" body. How do you think I feel?" Balem snapped.

"I know my lord but this is going to work."

Hazel eye's held his, "Anything that happens to her. I don't care what she signed allowing this, you will pay."

Mr. Captiosus inclined his head.

 **TBC...**


	10. Ch 9: Closing in- Part I

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** You guys have NO idea how excited I am to have gotten to this point in the story. But I'll shush, and let you all enjoy this next chapter. *bounces around* But seriously, was anyone scared that I was killing off Balem for good? Now we can really have some fun! **  
**

* * *

Chapter 9: Closing in- Part I

"I'm sorry, my lord to have brought this bad news", Ajay Camou spoke.

He sat in a small room, on the floor with a computer in front of him. On the screen, it was black except for the white line in the middle. Lord Camou sat quietly awaiting a response.

"Balem's body is missing?" a disembodied voice asked. When it spoke, the white line, turned to zigzags much like a heart monitor would.

"Yes, my lord."

"I didn't realize keeping up with a body was beyond your chameleon splice's capabilities."

Ajay sat forward a little. "Forty-seven has assured me..."

"Silence!" the disembodied snapped.

Lord Camou's mouth snapped shut with an audible snap. It was silent for a few minutes before the voice came back.

"Fortunately for you we can savage this. I won't let centuries of planning to go to waste. Do you have Balem's DNA I sent you?"

"Yes, my lord", Ajay nodded.

"Good, get one of your underlings to copy his DNA and then we'll have Balem's body...found."

"An DNA inject won't last as long as a stream", Ajay spoke.

The voice sighed once, "Must I spell it all out for you? We don't need it to last more than a few days anyways. Just long enough for them to declare Balem Abrasax legally dead."

"Of course, my lord. I see where this is going. I will have it set in motion."

"I will be going to Jupiter."

"What of Amoya?"

"Well, you officially have her DNA don't you? If she doesn't cooperate... well, she will one way or another." There was a chuckle.

"Yes, my lord."

"I will contact you at a later date. Start heading back to Jupiter. But take the long way around. You will need to be close by when everything starts clicking into place. Our planning will come to fruition now. Don't tell Amoya we are heading back to Jupiter. There may still be a chance, however minimal, that we can win her over."

"It will be done." Ajay nodded and pressed a button on the computer turning it off.

* * *

Amoya quickly began to get suspicious.

In the last day, everyone seemed to be running around and more than that she felt that something was begin kept from her. Even Dalila and Naveen seemed to be quite secretive, always steering her from...something. She had grown quite fond of the couple. They were like children. Both of them adored their names. Amoya caught Twenty-four aka Dalila, saying her new name under her breath. Twenty-one aka Naveen tended to smiled a lot under his breath. He tried to temper his curiosity. They both caution her about using their new names freely with others, so it was their little secret.

It sadden Amoya that their Master, Ajay Camou, couldn't even be bothered to give them names. It irked her. Speaking of, even Ajay Camou seemed to be on edge, preoccupied with something.

And all this made Amoya suspicious, though she played along for some things such as letting Dalila and Naveen steer her where they wanted to go.

However, the next day, Ajay said that they were moving from this planet. When Amoya questioned where and why, he only said that they shouldn't stay in one place to long. Amoya could see through that, but she let it go.

In addition, at their meals Lord Camou wouldn't give up trying to get her to marry him. Now that Amoya was a bit more clear-headed, less prone to deep sorrow, she noticed the glint in his eyes like a reptile. He was up to something. Not that Amoya trusted him before, but in the past day, she trusted him even less.

Amoya realized she needed to keep a clear-head to figure a way out of this mess. Plus, she was tired of the deep sorrow she felt. She was tired to thinking about it. It only served to make her miserable. And she wasn't going to accomplish anything being miserable.

Even if there wasn't a way out of this mess, she was determine not to drag the Abarasax's name through the mud. She refused to make matters worse. She was still debating, turning herself into the Aegis. The worse they could do was have her executed.

Just as well.

There was no worse fate than living with this sorrow and guilt.

Guilt for not being able to stop it.

Guilt if she did it.

It was the not knowing that was slowly killing her. Even if she could know she did have a rage attack, at least she would be able to deal with it.

But to deal with the nothingness she felt every day since she woke up on the ship Vipera, that was worse.

So toss her in jail.

Execute her for all she cared.

She just wanted to know.

Her memory in this last week hadn't improved any, so she had no idea what really happened. She didn't want to entertain the idea that she did kill him and in her grief she blocked the memory. Besides, blocking one memory okay but able to block a least a week or even more at one time? It didn't make any sense.

But then again what did, nowadays?

Even as they packed up and set out for, wherever the devil they were going, she began to feel uneasy. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. And it didn't help that she woke up with a massive headache every morning.

Currently, Amoya sat in her assigned personal room, on the illustrious Jaculus, Camou's personal ship. She didn't know why but she got flashes of The Clipper, Titus' Abarasax ship. She had only been on her brother-in-law's ship once in the 11 years of her marriage with Balem.

But we won't discuss that venture.

Amoya held her head, trying to breathe through the pounding in her skull. For some reason, Amoya thought that it was getting worse every day. It was about two seconds away from making her ill. And it wasn't helping that the room she was in was that blasted green/yellow/white color theme. She was beginning to abhor those colors.

She swallowed, rubbing some pressure points, as she heard the door open.

"Are you well, lady?"

Amoya held back a sigh as she lifted her head to face the last person she wanted to see right now. "Lord Camou, to what to I owe the pleasure now?" she asked her mouth thinning into a line.

Lord Camou entered the room. "I was wondering if you thought more on my offer. I will need an answer soon."

Amoya breathed as she looked up at the man. "My answer is the same as the last time you offered. And the time before that. And the time before that."

"My lady..." Ajay murmured gracefully sinking down next to her on her bed as he moved a piece of his robe aside so that he wasn't stretching it.

Amoya shifted, "Don't." She winced and went to hold her head again.

"You still have these headaches?"

"Obviously." Amoya muttered. She was past the point of being cordial. Ajay was working on her last nerves.

"Allow me." Ajay reached up to touch Amoya's head but she pushed it away. Lifting her head she glared.

"Don't presume to get familiar with me."

Ajay looked at her with something akin to pity. " It's not right that the Queen should be reduced to this. I beg you, lady, allow me to handle everything. I can get you off. This I can swear."

"I don't care if you can. I rather die than betray Balem further."

"So you admit you betrayed him", Ajay asked mildly.

"Don't seek to put words in my mouth. I don't remember anything."

"But you admit that you could have."

"Lord Camou..."

"Really, my lady. If you don't remember anything about this and given the video, can you say for certain that you didn't do it?"

Amoya swallowed. "I loved my husband." she murmured.

"I didn't say you didn't. But we all do things out of anger that we later regret."

"Not like this", Amoya whispered. "It's not me."

Ajay reached out to touch Amoya but her narrowed eyes stopped him. Ajay turned his face away, lowering his hand, but not before Amoya saw the flash of annoyance in his eye. When he turned back to her it gone as quickly as it came.

He stood and looked down at her, "I think it's time. Come with me my lady. You'll see just how far this rabbit hole goes and then you can make an inform decision."

* * *

"We found him!" an cheetah-splice cried entering the small room.

Captain Tsing looked up from her data-pad. Mr. Night blinked in surprised before busting out, "Where was he?"

"That's what's odd", the cheetah-splice reported. "He was in an obscure part of the refinery. It looks as if someone intended on perhaps having his body destroyed but was unable to finished in time."

"My poor lord", Mr. Night moaned.

"Load him up", Captain Tsing ordered.

"Already being moved as we speak. We have scanned the room for forensics to play back and look at."

"Thank you." Captain Tsing said. The cheetah-splice nodded before exiting. She turned to Mr. Night. "You're lucky."

"How do you mean, ma'am?"

Captain Tsing eyes narrowed, "I was starting on a list of suspects. You were first on my list." Her dark eyes stared at the rat-splice unblinkingly.

"Me!" Mr. Night squeaked. "I would never deface the body of my lord."

"Destroying the body would get rid of the evidence."

"What evidence?"

"Whatever evidence the culprit didn't want us to find."

Mr. Night blinked, "There is some?" he asked finally.

"There is now." Captain said briskly before turning to two hulky men who stepped into the room, "I am leaving two officers here, Officer Mark and Officer Matt."

The two officers looked to be brothers at the very least. Mr. Night would almost say they were twins, they looked so much alike. Both were human males. Their heads were shaved and had stern countenances and ivory skin. They looked like wrestlers and not to be played with.

Mr. Night noticed a metal contraption with a wire, going from inside their ear to a round plate attached to the side of their head. They had one on each side.

Enhanced humans. They were a step below a cyborg on the chain.

Captain Tsing's didn't take her eyes off of Mr. Night who swallowed looking up at these big men. "They are here for patrol's sake." she said, "Once everything settles down, we will come back and pick them up."

She lifted a data pad, "We have checked the cameras and no one came in or out of the morgue so we suspect video tampering at the least. We have taken those video for examination. We also have video of the Balem's assassination. From our understanding, it wasn't normal for him to have his private chambers under surveillance, was it?"

"No ma'am. He requested it a week before the assassination. All he would say that he was ...concerned. Lord Balem had been on edge for the past months will all the rumors and business and everything. It was a hectic time." Mr. Night explained.

"I see." Captain Tsing studied him a moment longer before turning and walking out. "I will be in touch."

The two officers followed her out leaving Mr. Night alone. His eyes flashed green once. Forty-seven breathed. He didn't have to fake surprised through the guise of Mr. Night. He was genuinely surprised at Balem's body begin found, but he suspected that this was another contingency plan that was put in place. It was a close call as he knew that Captain Tsing was beginning to suspect him. It wouldn't have mattered if she did. All chameleon splices were merely soldiers for their Master. Even if it meant their death, whatever got the job done.

Mr. Night turned to the window. Forty-seven had been Mr. Night so long, he no longer thought of himself as Forty-seven. He knew that the "dead body" was one of the Thirties chameleon splices that had been injected with Balem's DNA. Once injected, he must have been carefully killed exactly as Balem had. He wasn't aware that his master had Balem's DNA or where he got it from but he dismissed the thought from his mind.

It wasn't his business, actually. Forty-seven knew the ruse of the "dead body" would only last three days at the most but by that time everything would have fallen into place. It was there, like he was, only to misdirect everyone long enough until it was too late do to anything about it.

By then even the paperwork would say what it needed and not even paperwork could be changed.

Mr. Night aka Forty-seven's mouth quirked once.

Soon.

Amoya followed Lord Camou down many corridors. She barely took in her surroundings. Finally they arrived at a double door and it opened automatically.

Inside the spacious room, was a long table.

Only one occupant sat at the table, fanning herself with a small fan, wearing the customary robe of the Camou household. She stood when Ajay entered and bowed.

"Master."

"Amoya Abrasax, meet Miss Forty-four", Ajay introduced.

The albino chameleon spliced, bowed deeply to Amoya before straightening. Amoya inclined her head as Ajay walked to the head of the table and pressed a button on the square box sitting on it. Amoya assumed it was an intercom of some sort.

"Are we all here?" he asked.

Suddenly, various beings hologramed into the seats. They all gave murmurs of agreement. Amoya gasped recognizing some of the faces.

Mr. Lukas, was a short round man, with blue eyes and blond hair. He supplied the metal for the Abrasax Industries.

Mr. Tiko, was a stocky man with a black mustache and skin like sand. His hair was wavy and he sat with his hands folded in his lap. He was one of the directors on the board of Abrasax Industries.

Mrs. Kainer, was a young shapely woman that sat with one knee crossed over her leg. She had red-wine hair and grey eyes. She also wore glasses. Her small company, was a satellite company kept in business by the Abrasax Industries.

On and on. Many faces that Amoya recognized and had met at one time.

"Do you understand yet?"

Amoya looked at Ajay who was eyeing her. Gone was the pretense of cordiality, that he had presented so far. Amoya opened and closed her mouth, unable to articulate amidst the whirling confusion that flooded her.

"We are going to take down Abrasax Industries, as we know it. For that, we needed to get rid of Balem Abrasax.", Ajay said.

Amoya's eyes narrowed, "You killed him?"

"Not me...but..." Ajay shrugged.

"Why are you guys doing this? I'm surprised that all of you have defected from Abrasax Industries", Amoya asked the room.

Mr. Lukas winkled his nose, "They made us an offer we couldn't refuse."

"What offer?"

Mr. Lukas said nothing.

"Balem Abrasax has been in power for far too long!" Ajay exclaimed. Amoya took a step back at the spirit that burst forth from Ajay, "He is threatening to put me out of business altogether. I can barely hang on for another century. Why should he get everything? You should be glad." Here he extended a slim flinger towards her.

"Glad of what?" Amoya asked sharply.

Ajay lifted his head, as his eyes narrowed. He retracted his hand and stuck them both into his long sleeves. "It's common knowledge that you are squeamish of Regenex. It's no secret that you do not support the creation of it."

Amoya folded her own arms, "No, I don't like how Regenex is made but I would never kill Balem over it."

"And yet you stand idly by and allow it to continue?"

"That is my husband's business. And it has existed way before I came into the picture. I have suggested the idea of creating an alternative Regenex that doesn't require killing humans."

"And in all these years he hasn't listened to any of it, has he?" Ajay took a step forward, "It's the only thing the two of you fight about, isn't it? The only thing that you two truly fight over."

Amoya was disturbed that he knew that for certain. It was almost like he was in her head. But it was true. She and Balem rarely fought but when they did, Regenex was usually the topic. It wasn't that she didn't like Regenex, she didn't like the process it took to make it. Usually she just did not participate in that aspect of Entitled life. She knew that she would age and die naturally. That too was a heated debate between her and Balem. He threatened that he would force her to use it.

Amoya was silent, her dark eyes still trained on him.

Ajay took a step forward, "You will help us."

Amoya lifted her chin, "I will do no such thing."

Ajay smiled then, a serpent's smile. "Oh, you'd be surprised at what you can do. Just as many of them refused..." Here he waved his hand over the group, "...eventually they saw things my way."

Ajay Camou looked at the crowd and nodded. Not all of them but many of them blinked and their eyes turned into that vibrant reptilian textured green eyes. Mr. Lukas, Mr. Tiko and Mrs. Kainer's were among the party of eyes that changed.

Amoya took a step back, her hands dropping to her sides, "What is the meaning of this?"

Lord Camou took one hand and waved it over the group, "Very simply that this plan has been in effect for decades. It started way back before you were even born much less Queen. These are my chameleon splices."

Something niggled in Amoya's brain. Something she was suppose to remember. Those words felt familiar but she couldn't for the life of her place them. She shook herself, absently rubbing her aching head. She blinked to focus.

Lord Camou continued, "They are the next evolution of cloning. Clones were uncontrollable, which would not do, so we began to look for an alternate. There had to be something in the universe that had the ability to change shape. After much scouting we discovered a chameleon. Not like the ones from Earth. But new and evolved ones. They can change their entire shape to other animals. Those animals had to be of equal weight or less to make their shape shift effective. Even for a brief moment they could change to an inanimate object like a rock or a patch of grass. Which as you can imagine made them tedious to capture."

Ajay laughed, "They were perfect for our use. They're some of the few rare creatures that are illegal to splice with but..." here he shrugged, "...they would suit my purpose. After all, what did I have to lose? It took much experimenting to get it right."

Amoya absently shook her head but continued to listen.

Ajay continued excited. "Chameleon splices are made in batches. 1-10 were not even worth mentioning. They were extremely hard to control, much like clones and we had to destroy them almost immediately after they were born. 11-20 were better, still though the control was a bit...sketchy."

"However, the Twenties was the first main breakthrough we had. Most of them however had to be destroyed because they were a bit too self-aware. I believe you've met Twenty-one and Twenty-four, the only survivors of their batch. They have the defect of being too human but they are worth-while for grunt work. As long as you keep a firm letch on them."

Ajay turned and swept his hand over the assembled group. "But the Thirties, oh! They were next to perfect. Able to go long stretches to time streaming a consciousness."

"So what did you do? Kill the true people?" asked Amoya.

"We can't stream a consciousness that doesn't exist, lady Amoya", Ajay spoked patronizing, "We have kidnapped the originals and they are in a deep coma. From them my chameleons are able to stream their consciousness. Much like you would on a computer, you know."

Amoya felt a rising anger at this.

"But the most perfect of my soldiers..." Ajay stepped behind Miss Forty-four and placed his hands on her shoulders. "...are my Forties. They were the perfect blank slate for assuming identities. Mr. Night is currently being streamed by Forty-seven, one of my best splices. Completely under my control but able to think within that control."

"You are sick." Amoya spat.

A small smile played on Ajya's face, "Say what you will, Amoya."

"You will never get away with this."

"Oh, but we already have. I wouldn't expect you to understand though. This is the way to power. This is how power works." came a new and familiar voice.

Amoya gasped at the voice and spun. "You!" she growled.

"Me."

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **A.N:** So any guesses who the mysterious new guest is? Oh, this is so exciting! Haha!


	11. Ch 10: Closing In- Part II

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 10: Closing In- Part II

"Titus Abrasax!" Amoya growled.

She tried to punch him but ended up going through him. She blinked as he laughed.

"Calm yourself, my dear. I've only hologramed here, nothing more."

Amoya balled her hands into fist. "You."

Titus laughed once, "Ahh, Amoya. Almost ruining my plans, but you turned out to be an advantage."

"You are working with this moron?" Amoya shifted to ask Ajay.

Titus smirked, "I resent that."

Amoya glared at Titus.

Titus sighed once and waved his hand, "This works out for everyone. I discovered that Lord Camou was doing illegal testing but rather than turn him in, I decided I could help him."

"With Lord Titus' help we managed to reach places that would have been harder on our own, not to mention we arrived there much faster.", Ajay added.

Titus took a step forward, "And in return, I promised that Camou Industries will become the new Abrasax Industries, as we will merge under my leadership."

Amoya looked at Ajay, "And you brought this? If he willing to have his brother killed, what makes you think he won't betray you."

"I may lie about many things Amoya but I would never lie about business", Titus spoke sweetly but all Amoya heard was sour. "Now Amoya, it's time to decide your fate. Join us of your own free will or perish."

Amoya eyed Titus once before asking, "You seem to have everything together. What do you need me for?"

Titus eyes darken, "Apparently Balem changed his will. Whereas before you came into the picture, in his death Kalique would inherit and as much as I love my sister I would have only had to kill her. In fact, that was the plan, until you married my brother. Now, that his will has been changed, you inherit his company."

Amoya blinked.

Hard.

Her mouth parted slightly.

Titus looked amused, "I see you didn't know that. Interesting. Well, it's true. Now the will states that in his death, you inherit the company. Which means, you are now the new face of the Abrasax Industries. However, in your death, it reverts to Kalique and then to me. However..."

He left it hanging so long with a smirk on his face. Amoya could see that this was all a game he was enjoying. She finally sighed hard after a moment and asked through gritted teeth, "However?"

Titus waved his hand once again, "However, now that you are the new face to the Abrasax Industries, you can personally hand the reigns over to me, bypassing Kalique altogether. But not to worry she will be dealt with..." Titus swayed in thought, "...eventually, after everything dies down." He waved a dismissing hand.

Amoya looked away from Titus with a chuckle before looking back at him. Finally she burst out in laughter. It hurt her head further to laugh but she just couldn't stop. It went on for a few moments. Ajay Camou raised an eyebrow at this.

"Are you alright, my dear?' asked Titus lightly.

Amoya's laugh died down to a chuckle, "Wow. Just...wow!" She paused a moment before speaking, "You've got to be out of your bloody mind if you'd think I would hand you anything. I wouldn't hand you a hand to help you up right about now."

Titus looked at Ajay. "I told you she's stubborn and she wouldn't agree to it. I had hope that this memory loss she has would soften her heart to us, but..." he shrugged delicately.

"Pity", Ajay cooed.

"Indeed, which is why...we are moving forward with our plans." Titus clapped his hands together.

"Plan?" the former Earthling asked.

"Oh, yes. I said that you would help us regardless and you will. You have."

Amoya raised an eyebrow.

"Lord Camou?"

Amoya looked at Ajay who smirked and from somewhere in his robe pulled out a small syringed looking needle. He handed it to Miss Forty-four. She put down her fan as she took it. Without flinching she injected the needle into the base of her skull. Once drained she put it on the table.

Barely a moment passed, before Amoya saw a shift. Forty-four's face began to shift and after a minute, Amoya realized she was looking at herself, dressed in the customary robe. She even had her new hated hairstyle. Amoya gasped. "Wha...?"

Ajay reached over and stroke the Amoya duplicate's cheek. "Beautiful no?"

Amoya was stunned into silence. It was a enough time before two guards, that seemed to come out of nowhere, grabbed her. She was brought back to herself and struggled.

Titus stepped around into her view. "Like I said, I always knew you'd be helpful."

"They won't buy this."

"I only need them too for a brief time. Since you won't be around we can't stream your consciousness which is the preferred method. You are much too much of a threat to leave alive. However injected DNA can last up to two days and we have quite a bit of your DNA now."

Amoya eyed him, "How?

Titus eyed her, "I must say, the new hairstyle suits you if I didn't mention it before."

Amoya couldn't believe this. No wonder they pushed for her new hairstyle. They wanted pure DNA from her. She hated her new hairstyle even more.

"So we'll inject for awhile until she is no longer needed. After all the paperwork is filed of course. The awesome thing about chameleon splices is that they can replicate you down to DNA. So a fingerprint or even an signifying seal can be the real deal. After all paperwork doesn't lie.", the third primary said.

Amoya gasped at the implications. They could sign as her, using her signifying seal on her wrist and it would all be legit.

According to the paperwork.

Titus Abrasax continued, "Amoya Abrasax betrays Balem Abrasax because she is sicken by the idea of Regenex. She realizes her husband isn't the man she thought and regrets their marriage. She agrees to join Camou Industries with promise that they would try to find an alternative Regenex that doesn't harvest humans. She signs over her rights to Ajay who in turn signs it over to me. And a few days after the paperwork is settled, she is found dead. Anything else will be immaterial as the paperwork would have been solidified and cannot be overruled. I do love a good story, don't you?"

"You make me sick." Amoya hissed after he was done.

"The feeling is mutual, I assure you. Now." Titus straightened and his eyes narrowed, "You won't be around for any of this. You are too much of an...moving faction to leave alive. So you get to know what being tossed in the void is like. However I am an gentlemen and I will allow them to give you an spacesuit with an hour of air. I'm sure you have a lot to think about before you die."

Titus waved his hand to Ajay who nods to the guards. They go to take her away but she speaks.

Amoya struggled, "Wait, don't I get a final request?"

"What?" Titus asked curiously.

"Who did it? Who killed Balem? I know it wasn't me."

"Was it now?"Titus teased.

Amoya lifted her head though her eyes became wet, "You owe me that at least." she hissed, "If I'm going to die, I may as well know happened. For real."

Titus looked at Ajay who leaned over and pressed a button on the control on the table. He turned to Amoya, "Well, I suppose it can't hurt now. You will be reunited with him at long last. You did kill your husband, but it wasn't you personally. Do you know the answer?"

The door opened and Twenty-one and Twenty-four entered. Twenty-four's eyes were down cast as she refused to look at Amoya.

"Come now, don't be shy", Ajay said, "Be proud of your work!"

It was then that it clicked for Amoya. She gaped at the two of them. "You..."

Twenty-four looked up at the heartbreaking look on Amoya's face, "My Lady. We...Its. Yes, I killed your husband, while streaming your consciousness. You were out for a short period of time but it was long enough."

A strangled sound escaped Amoya's throat.

There was dead silence for a bit while Titus watched with interest, much like someone would a soap opera. Finally he spoke, "Well, now that that's all settled, please proceed gentlemen."

The guards dragged Amoya out.

Titus turned to Ajay, "When things die down, I will expect your arrival on Jupiter. For now keep circling in and out of the galaxies. However, the paperwork I expect like...now. Yesterday even."

Without preamble he hologramed out.

Ajay turned to the Twenties with disgust, "I see you feel bad again. You shouldn't. You were created for this purpose. Rejoice in that purpose. You are dismissed!" he waved a hand.

The Twenties bowed before leaving.

* * *

Amoya stood in her spacesuit.

She was oddly detached at this moment. She didn't know why she felt so betrayed. She had started liking the Twenties and to know that Twenty-four killed her husband...as her. It gave her a migraine just thinking about it.

She tried to think of a way out of this, but nothing was coming to her.

She didn't even realize that everyone had left and the door had close behind her.

A moment later, she was floating in space.

She watched as the ship jumped into hyperspace leaving her alone in the void.

"Air left 58 minutes. Please proceed to the nearest ship." the auto voice intoned.

But there wasn't a ship. She was alone floating in through the space. She would die here. Amoya never thought that she would die in space. A burst of laughter poured from her lips and suddenly she was in peals of laughter as she drifted.

At least she wouldn't die an ordinary death.

She would die in space.

Amoya couldn't stop laughing.

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **A.N:** So congrats on all the people who called Titus the mysterious new guest. It seems about 99% of you that answer said Titus (without preamble I may add). I guess I couldn't fool nobody but I suppose if you look at it from the scope of the universe that JA is in, he would be the logical guess. lol Seems Amoya finally cracked.


	12. Ch 11: Reset Part I

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Thanks so much for all the reviews!

* * *

Chapter 11: Reset Part I

"Twenty-four! Twenty-four!" Twenty-one called as Twenty-four practically ran ahead. She wasn't slowing down any, "Dalila!"

Twenty-four turned back around. Suspiciously her eyes were wet, "Don't call me that!"

"Twenty-four..."

"What have we done?" Twenty-four moaned.

Twenty-one pulled her into an empty room. He placed his hands on her shoulder, "We didn't have any choice, Twenty-four."

"There is always a choice!"

"Not for us!"

Twenty-four glared through her tears up at Twenty-one, "Does that make you feel any better?"

Twenty-one's gaze slid away from hers, his hands dropping to his side. He was silent.

Twenty-four sniffed. "I feel...what is it again?"

"Guilt" Twenty-one whispered, "It's called guilt. Feeling bad for something you've done."

"I feel guilt", Twenty-four stated.

Twenty-one nodded still not looking at Twenty-four. "So do I." he whispered, "Lady Amoya was the only one that was ever kind to us. Named us and everything. We shouldn't have gotten that close."

"But we did." Twenty-four paused a moment before asking, "So what do we do?"

Twenty-one looked down at Twenty-four before looking back at the door. Suddenly a glint of determination flooded his eyes. Without preamble he grabbed Twenty-four's hand. "Come on. We are going to fix this. Wipe your tears, act normal."

Twenty-four wiped away her tear and allowed Twenty-one to pull her out the door.

* * *

"Welcome to Jupiter, my lord!" Mr. Night bowed as Titus Abrasax exited the Clipper with Famulus and his entourage, "This is the most unexpected pleasure!"

"It is not for pleasure that I am here", Titus intoned solemnly."I would have arrived sooner but..." he waved his hand.

"I understand. Please, right this way."

"I understand that Kalique is here as well."

Mr. Night nodded once, "Yes, your majesty. Your royal sister is waiting in the throne room."

Titus entered the throne room to find Kalique standing before it looking out of the window. Her own entourage including Mr. Malidicates littered the room.

"Sister", Titus greeted.

Kalique turned and inclined her head, "Brother."

Titus noticed that Kalique was holding something in her hands. He waved his hands towards it, "What's that?"

Kalique held it out. It was Balem's choker.

"It seems almost strange that Balem is dead. He has been around so long, just like Mother and now that's he's gone..." She trailed off with a delicate shrug.

"I know what you mean, dear sister. There is a void." Titus said his eyes trailing to the floating settee.

"Indeed."

There was a bout of silent, "I am told that our father wore this choker during his reign", Kalique spoke.

"So they say." Titus drawled.

Another bout of silence before Titus looking at Kalique and spoke, "I am...shocked at our sister-in-law. I cannot believe that she actually did this. Set these events in motion."

"Indeed. Perhaps, she was never the woman we thought", Kalique spoke.

"I suppose not. However power can be addicting. She must have gotten addicted, for she was always a lovely woman."

Kalique looked at her younger brother amused, "Liar. You've always despise Amoya."

"And you didn't?"

"I wasn't lying when I said she was Balem's match." Kalique shrugged.

"But you cannot admit that all of this gives you an advantage, can you? Since Balem changed his will, I mean. Before it reverted to her upon his death, now that Amoya is on the run or dead, the Abrasax Industries revert to you."

Kalique eyed Titus. "I won't refute it. Since Amoya is on the run, in her absence, it does revert to me."

"I always thought it was a disservice that Balem changed his will, allowing Amoya control instead of you. You would be most qualified", Titus spoke with a small bow.

Kalique looked amused, "How much lying can you do in one sitting? I know you will try to have me removed."

Titus feign shock, "Never, dear sister. You mean so much more to me than a mere title."

Kalique mouth quirked as she just looked at him. Famulus stepped up and handed Titus a data pad. He looked at it before smiling.

Looking up at Kalique the smile was still plastered on his face, "It seems, dear sister, that the stars are shining favorably on me."

Kalique eyed him as he handed her the datapad. She handed the choker back to one of her assistants before accepting it and looking it over.

Titus watched closely, unblinkingly. He got the reaction he wanted when she gasped, "Impossible!"

"Like I said, the stars are shining for me now."

* * *

Time ran out of the suit and Amoya found herself choking. Eventually, she blocked out. She thought she had died until she saw a penlight in the distance and followed it.

With a small groan she slowly began to return to consciousness.

"How is she?" came an familiar African accented voice.

"She's waking up. We weren't too late."

Amoya began to realize that there was something over her face. She reached up and grasped it.

An oxygen mask.

She gasped trying to draw in air. It hurt to breath. Her head swam. Suddenly she screamed, her hands reaching up to grab at her hair.

"What is it?" Twenty-one cried glancing over his shoulder, from where he piloted the small spaceship.

He and Twenty-four defected from the House of Camou. He knew the risk of returning to help Amoya but the way he figured they were both dead anyway. At least this way they could right one wrong they've committed. It was easy to knock people out and steal their identities long enough to commandeer a small spaceship. They made sure to pick one that had some medical equipment onboard. They had feared they were too late and their fears were almost realized.

Amoya had been clinically dead for at least three minutes before Twenty-four managed to revive her. They don't know how long she had been dead before they managed to revive her.

"I don't know!" Twenty-four cried helplessly as she pulled Amoya's hands away from her, to stop her from hurting herself and rolling off the small makeshift bed. Amoya was practically pulling her hair out.

Amoya felt her head exploding. It was like a fourth of July going off.

On and on and on.

Memories.

Memories came flooding back. That lost time.

It was as if a tumbler lock finally settled where it was suppose to be.

And finally Amoya stopped screaming, passing out.

"What?!" Twenty-one asked. He wasn't flying to any particular destination at the moment but simply kept watch. He didn't know how long it would take for their ex-master to figure out that they betrayed him or what he would do.

"I don't know!" Twenty-four cried fearly, eyeing Amoya's still body. She let go of her wrists and eyed the Queen. She didn't move.

A few minutes passed and the Twenties began to fear the worse before Amoya suddently twitched. A couple of seconds after that, she groaned and managed peal open her eyes. The first thing she was aware of was the massive headache including her scalp hurting. She shut her eyes tightly. She didn't want to move.

"My Lady?" Twenty-four asked quietly leaning over her.

Amoya groaned again and went to crack her eye open. Her vision swam as she tried to get her bearings.

"My Lady?" Twenty-four tried again.

Amoya opened her eyes, her vision slowly returning to normal. She just stared at face above her.

"Do you know who I am?" Tweny-four ask fearing brain damage.

Amoya blinked then suddenly stiffened once she realized who the face belonged to.

Twenty-four pulled back slightly, holding her hands up, "Please, I mean you no harm. I know I can never take back what I did and saying that I had no choice, is a poor cop out but we managed to get to you before you were gone from us forever. I know we will have to pay for our crimes but at least let me assist you."

Amoya eyed Twenty-four a long moment. Twenty-four held her gaze until Amoya blinked and began move.

"Take it easy, my lady. You are still weak", Twenty-four murmured, helping Amoya sit up.

Amoya found her strength depleted and laid back down instead. She took off her oxygen mask to speak. "Dalila, you...rescued me?"

Dalila aka Twenty-four nodded, "Please don't stress yourself my lady. Twenty-one is here too."

Twenty-one glanced over his shoulder once more but otherwise didn't say anything. Amoya stared at the chameleon splice who eyed her worriedly. Suddenly, something clicked in the former Earthling's brain.

Amoya tried to sit up again and failed, "I need to get to Jupiter."

"What?" Twenty-four asked trying to keep up with a struggling Amoya who kept trying sit up, "Please take it easy, my lady. Please. Lay down, it's alright." Twenty-four gently pushed at Amoya's shoulders.

Amoya laid. Shutting her eyes she breathed. Just trying to sit up was taking her breath away. She felt she had run a marathon, "Jupiter. " she whispered between breaths, "Please, take me to Jupiter, Dalila."

"They will arrest you on sight. The might even kill you!" Twenty-four cried.

"Maybe, but I need to get there. Balem should be waiting for me." Amoya said.

Twenty-four blinked and said carefully, "I'm sorry, my lady but Balem Abrasax is dead. I...I killed him."

Amoya gave a chuckle, eyes still closed, "So you think."

Twenty-four blinked again.

Amoya opened her eyes and looked at Twenty-four, "Please if you want to make this up to me, get me back to Jupiter. I know what I'm asking. It will make sense soon."

She brought a hand to her head, "That stuff shouldn't have worn off until a few more days but if I passed out it might have forced a connection break. I don't know if Balem or Mr. Captiosus will know that I'm alive. That's why I have to go back. I will not let Titus win."

"My lady?" Twenty-four asked thoroughly confused thought she saw the determined glint in the Queen's eyes.

"Please, get Naveen to go back to Jupiter." Amoya spoke softly.

Twenty-four nodded and looked at Twenty-one.

"I hear and obey", Twenty-one intoned before setting course for Jupiter. "Thankfully, we are already back in level one galaxy as this ship cannot jump galaxies. But it will be a few hours before we get there."

Amoya nodded, "Thank you." She dragged the oxygen mask up to her face and breathed.

Breathing seemed so much harder now. Silence reigned for awhile until:

"Why did you call us by the names you gave us? We have lost that honor."

Amoya pealed open her eyes and looked over at Twenty-four who had her head downcast.

She moved the oxygen mask aside for a moment, "You are still human beings, Dalila and whatever you do or don't do, you should still have the dignity of a name. Look at Titus, he has a name and he's a heartless person. Just because he's a bad person doesn't mean his name goes out the window. " Amoya's eyes flashed, "Although there are many names I would call him but I'm not prone to such baseless dispositions."

Dalila looked up at Amoya who gave a wan smile and added, "Besides you could argue that you are earning it back. I do thank you for this. I thought I was dead for sure."

Dalila looked on at Amoya in wonder while even Naveen could not believe his ears.

A comfortable silence grew.

* * *

Kalique stood staring at the data pad. Tensed silence floated throughout the room. Titus only smirked.

"You've got to be joking", Kalique spoke glaring up at Titus.

"Does it look like I'm joking? That is signed and sealed with Amoya's signifying seal isn't it?"

"I'm suppose to believe that Amoya signed over the reins to you? You must have tampered with something or did something!" Kalique raged.

"Even if I did, you can't prove it." Titus said mildly, "The paperwork speaks for itself and as we speak has been sent to the bureaucracy and is being processed as we speak. They will find it all legit."

"So Amoya's alive?"

Titus rocked on the balls of his feet but wouldn't answer.

Kalique growled and in a fit of anger slammed the data pad to the ground, just as the door opened.

Everyone looked up as a familiar voice floated into the room. It was cold and quiet but it cut through the room like ice, "My my, I haven't seen such display of anger from you like that in centuries Kalique."

Titus and Kalique couldn't help the gasp. The former more so than the later. Everyone looked up as a hush silence fell over the room as shock reigned.

Balem Abrasax stood wearing his black customary robes minus his choker. Behind him was Mr. Captiosus along with a few lizard guards and Officers Mark and Matt.

 **TBC...**


	13. Ch 12: Reset Part II

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Another one of my favorite chapters of this story! he-he.

* * *

Chapter 12: Reset Part II

Shock froze the entire room. Balem slowly walked into the room, his hazel eyes hard and cold as ice. He focused his gaze on his siblings, waiting for either of them to say something.

It was Titus who found his voice first. "You're...you're dead?" he stuttered.

"I am alive and well. I can't say the same will remain true for you", Balem whispered. His voice had a hard edge to it that seem to freeze the entire room.

Titus blinked still in a state of shock.

Mr. Captiosus walked over to Kalique's attendant who was holding Balem's choker and held out his hand. She glanced at Kalique who nodded before giving it back to Mr. Captiosus. He walked over and handed it to Balem with a bow.

Balem took it and held it between his hands, gazing at it a long moment.

"Are you...are you really here?" asked Kalique.

Balem slowly lifted his head and looked at his sister, "Don't I look like I'm here?" He lifted the choker and snapped it around his neck. "Now that the rightful heir is back, things will be rectified. I grow tired of these games."

Finally the youngest Abrasax snapped out it. He took a step back glaring at his older brother, "You must be an imposter! Balem's body has been sent with the Aegis! How do we know, you are who you say you are?"

Balem's slowly turned his head to Titus. He spoke softly with a drawl, "You really shouldn't dig your grave any deeper, Titus. I know of your treachery."

Titus bristled, "What treachery? You can't prove jack."

Here Balem looked amused, "I can prove a lot. In fact the Aegis is now aware of just how deep your treachery has gone. I have sent the evidence and they are processing it right now." He lifted one hand back to the officers.

Titus didn't even look at them.

"And..." here Balem turned to the door. As if on cue, the door opened and Mr. Night was brought in by two guards. He was tossed, unceremoniously to the ground.

It took a moment for Mr. Night to situate himself. Looking up he gasped, "My lord!" he cried, "How?"

Balem barely spared him a glance as he had turned to watch Titus carefully.

Mr. Night went to stand but the guards held him down, "How are you alive? Your body was sent with the Aegis to forensics."

"Spare me!" Balem hissed turning to him then.

Mr. Night blinked, "My lord?" Suddenly his head was snapping back. Balem darted forward and slapped him. He looked up at Balem's whose face as flushed. "Spare me the games, whatever you call yourself", he whispered, "I know you are not Mr. Night. I have known for awhile now."

Mr. Night's eyes widen, "I don't understand, my lord? How have I angered you?"

Balem studied him for a long moment before straightening. He waved his hand and Mr. Captiosus pressed something on his data pad. A hologram shot from it showing a still of Mr. Night's eyes.

Vibrant green eyes.

The room tittered then.

Mr. Night blanched, "My lord."

"I said spare me', Balem hissed, glaring down at him, "We have had this conversation once before and I don't care to repeat it. You may not remember as we reconstructed your memory of that talk so that your handlers wouldn't become suspicious. I know you are a chameleon splice created by Ajay Camou."

Everyone gasped.

Balem sneered, "I don't know how to break your streaming of Mr. Night's consciousness but let us stop playing games at least. I am weary of them now."

Mr. Night gaped at Balem before turning to Titus. Balem followed his gaze and looked at his brother as well.

Titus gathered himself and opened his mouth, "Camou Industries?"

"Yes", Balem drawled, "But you know about that, don't you Titus?"

Titus laughed once, "Whatever are you on now, dear brother?"

Balem's eyes darkened as he took a menacing step towards Titus, "I know that you are in league with them. You used them as ploy to take Abrasax Industries from me. I know you were always jealous, but I would think after this long you'd have learned your place by now."

Titus held his ground and glared, "My place?" he hissed, "My place!" He fairly shrieked, "I deserve more of a place then the four planets and the Clipper!"

"You can't even handle that. I've seen the state your planets are in. What makes you think you have what it takes to run Abrasax Industries?"

"And Amoya does? It's no secret that she doesn't agree with the harvesting of humans, of how Regenex is made. It's no secret that she doesn't have a head for business..." Here Titus took a step forward, "...and yet you changed your will to have her supersede both me and Kalique!"

Balem fairly growled, "What I do is none of your business!"

"And yet Amoya sided with me!" Titus cried, "She agreed to murder you under the agreement that we'd find an alternative Regenex."

"So you admit to such a plot?" Balem asked mildly.

Titus smiled, "There is no proof that I was involved in anything. It was Amoya that murdered you. It was Camou Industries made the chameleon splices, though they were illegal. I had nothing to do with nothing."

Balem cocked his head, his eyes becoming half-lidded. After a moment a familiar voice sounded in the room.

 _This works out for everyone. I discovered that Lord Camou was doing illegal testing but rather than turn him in, I decided I could help him._

Everyone gasped and Titus' mouth fell open. Turning he saw Mr. Captiosus' data pad. On the hologram there looked to be a camera pointing straight at Titus Abrasax as he stood with a smirk talking. The camera moved slightly but still stayed on Titus as another voice spoke:

 _With Lord Titus' help we managed to reach places that would have been harder on our own._

"I believe that was Lord Camou?" Balem murmured, hazel eyes fixed upon his younger brother who was too stun to react.

On the hologram, Titus took a step forward :

 _And in return, I promised that Camou Industries will become the new Abrasax Industries as we will merge under my leadership._

Balem held up his hand and Mr. Captiosus paused the clip. "We have much more material. I won't play it all as you were there and you remember that day."

Balem began to circle his younger brother, his eyes never leaving Titus, "I know that there were many other chameleons made. In batches I believe. You help maneuvered them into key positions to help take over Abrasax Industries. You used Camou Industries to help get what you wanted but you had no intentions of allowing them any kind of control. Merge with them..."

Here Balem' let out a throaty chuckle as he stopped behind Titus, leaning to speak in his ear. "Please. I don't know how Ajay Camou fell for that. I know you had a chameleon inject DNA into herself and become Amoya long enough to sign that document. Just as I know that my so-called dead body is a chameleon splice."

All eyes turned to Titus Abrasax. His mind whirled and it took awhile for him to function. Titus breathed frozen. Balem gracefully spun around to stand in front of Titus, assessing his reaction closely.

Titus mind whirled. He didn't understand how it was possible for Balem to know all of that. Was there a spy? A hidden camera? It seemed impossible. But how, how did he do this? And for Balem to be alive...

None of it made sense.

Balem stepped to the side of his brother and gestured to the hologram, which still paused, "You may recognize exactly how I got this footage but in case it's not clear, we used neuro-cameraing.

A beat of silence floated in the room as everyone let this filter into their brains.

"You mean turning a brain into a camera? That's risky", Kalique spoke up.

Balem spared Kalique a glance, "Indeed, but it's been done." Balem looked back at Titus. He took a step forward and whispered his voice cutting into his brother's ear, "Now do you get it?"

Balem stepped in front of Titus once more. He leaned forward to capture Titus eyes which had zoned out for the duration. Titus blinked at him as Balem gave a small smile, "Your Queen was your spy."

The volume in the room began to climb.

Titus mouth parted slightly of its own accord. For the first time in centuries, the third primary felt himself spinning. He shut his eyes trying to find his balance. For the first time in a long time, he felt his control slipping. If they had all this proof and could prove it...?

Wait, yes.

Titus peeled his eyes open as a slow sick grin appeared on his face. His grey eyes locked with Balem's hazel eyes voluntarily that time. He leaned forward slightly as he drawled, "Well, I can see how far you are willing to go to save yourself and your company. So much for love." he sneered, "If you know all of that then you must know that Amoya is dead by now."

Titus was rewarded by Balem's eyes widening slightly. He pounced on that tell, his grin widening, "Ahh, so you don't know? Well, such a pity..." here he waved his hand carelessly, "...but such things as neruo-cameraing is a legal minefield and now that she's dead, you can't use any of it." His voice held a note of triumphant.

Balem froze once before he wordlessly spun to Mr. Captiosus who refused to look at him then. The owl-splice finally spoke hesistantly, "Last I saw they tossed her in the void, my lord. And besides which the connection has been broken. It has been for awhile now."

Balem stared at him so long before his reflex kicked in and he blinked. "And...you are... just now...telling me this?" he managed to get out.

Before Mr. Captiosus could explain Titus chuckled, "Look on the bright side, brother. I managed to do what you were constantly threatening to do for years."

Suddenly, Titus head was snapping back on his neck and he stumbled. Balem had hauled off and hit his brother. Before his younger brother could collect himself, Balem hit him again.

And again.

Rage filled him and he saw red.

Titus only laughed as he tried to scramble away from his older brother. Everyone watched the fight, no one daring to break it up. All Balem heard was noise in his ears. It took quite a bit of time before he heard his name being called and he was pulled off of his younger brother.

Titus eyes managed to widen as Balem turned around intending to hit whoever it was that stopped him. But a familiar face gave him pause as he breathed heavily, his face flushed. His hair had come out of place and his eyes were wide. The freckles stood out predominately on his face.

Silence engulfed the room.

"Calm down, Balem."

That voice floated through Balem's system and managed to quell the anger within him.

"How?" Titus asked thoroughly shocked.

Amoya smiled wanly at Balem before sparing Titus a glare, "You'd be surprised."

 **TBC...**


	14. Ch 13: The Plan That Always Was

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 13: The Plan That Always Was

 _\- Way back when: -_

 _With another bow, Mr. Night turned and walked out the room. Silence followed a bit before the closet door opened. Mr. Captiosus sketched a bow as he collected his data pad on the desk and walked out._

 _"Majesties." he intoned._

 _Amoya bid him goodbye while Balem walked around his desk and retook his seat. Amoya pushed around some data pads before perching on the edge._

 _"Now what?" she asked eyeing him curiously._

 _"We wait. Come up with some kind of counter plan."_

 _"Like what?"_

 _\- Then: -_

It was Mr. Captiosus that came up with an idea for a plan. He went first to Queen Amoya to lay out the idea. If she wasn't willing, it would do no good to alert Balem. Plus, he knew he would need Queen Amoya's level head to even convince Balem that this might be their best bet. He had thought long and hard on this for three days before presenting it to the Queen.

Amoya was silent as he laid out the tentative plan, leaving gaps for Balem's and Amoya's ideas. Even when he finished laying out the idea, Amoya was silent a long time before she said anything.

"You think this will work?" she asked sitting back in her seat.

"I think this may be our only shot."

Amoya nodded, "It's the most sound plan I heard thus far. Balem will not be happy but we will present this to him."

* * *

That evening, the trio met in the Abrasax private sitting room. Amoya turned to her husband, "Now, Balem before we begin I must ask that you hold yourself until the end? Okay?" she asked.

Balem's eyes narrowed as he look at his wife seated next to him on the large sofa. Finally he gave the briefest of nods and leaned his head in his hands, "Very well", he murmured.

"Great!" Amoya chirped before turning to Mr. Captiosus who stood before them with only a long table separating them, "Please continue, Mr. Captiosus."

Said owl-splice gave a slow low bow before straightening, "Thank you, your majesties. Now, as you know we've sent several spies since we've began this and none of them has been seen or heard from since. I think it is in part because our a adversaries have been looking for such spies. So my idea is to give them a spy, they aren't looking for."

Balem shifted in his seat but said nothing. Mr. Captiosus paused once and Amoya gave the older man an encouraging smile.

"I will get straight to the point, your majesty", Mr. Captiosus breathed, "The idea is to use a form of memory reconstruction and neuro-camering to accomplish this."

A beat and then a low chuckle, "Are you high?" Balem asked softly.

"Balem you promise", Amoya warned.

Hazel eyes swung to her, "A. I didn't promise and B. When dealing with lunacy, one must put a stop to it immediately."

Amoya sighed as Balem turned back to Mr. Captiosus. "Neuro-cameraing is unstable. That's why it's not used, not to mention the legalities of it."

"Ahh, but concerning the legalities, if we have the signature of our spy to use it, then even if...something was to go wrong we could still use our findings in their death. And I agree with your majesty, neuro-cameraing is unstable as it involves turning the whole brain, including the person's eyes which are used as lens, into a camera that we can view from across galaxies."

"I know well what neuro-cameraing is, Mr. Captiosus."

"Of course, majesty", Mr. Captiosus sketched a bow, "But I believe that the problem with neruo-cameraing is weight. If there is too much going on in the brain, it's hard to capture it. However if we use a memory reconstruction, then it will eliminate the weight. Ergo, the person who is the neuro-camera, can't know that they are the neuro-camera otherwise it wouldn't work. The brain would automatically resist it."

Balem laughed once, lifting his head from this hand, "So your plan, is to get the signature aka the permission of a spy, to turn them into a neuro-camera and hope for the best. This sounds like a wild shot in the dark you have here."

"Not when you consider the specific spy we have chosen", Amoya hedged.

Balem glanced sideways as Amoya, "And who pray tell is that? I'd like to meet the person who would agree to this lunacy. The risks alone would send them running and legally it is one of few things that an Entitled cannot force on his subjects."

Amoya and Mr. Captiosus exchanged a glance.

Balem raised an eyebrow as she captured his hand. "Before I tell you, I want you to remember this is the best plan we have so far and if you can come up with something better after hearing _all the facts_..." she stressed, "...then we won't do this."

Balem's eyes narrowed at this. All this prefacing couldn't be good.

Amoya took a breath and squeezed his hand, "The spy...would be me."

There was a pregnant pause as Balem stared at Amoya not even blinking. She waited for his reaction with baited breath.

"ARE YOU CRAZY!"

There it was.

Balem shot from his seat, his eyes wide. Amoya stood quickly. "Darling..."

"Don't you dare, darling me!" Balem hissed, "What possess you to even consider such a thing?" He stopped and turned to Mr. Captiosus. "You..." he hissed.

Amoya jumped in front of Balem who looked like he was going to do the short owl splice great bodily harm. To Mr. Captiosus' credit he didn't move, only calmly stood his hands behind his back. The only noticeable nervous tick was his constant swallowing.

She pushed at his chest, "Calm down, Balem!" she tried for a soothing tone.

"Calm down?" Balem asked his voice pitched high, "CALM DOWN!"

Amoya couldn't help the roll of her eyes. "This is not helping." she sung.

Balem's nose flared and he narrowed his eyes at Amoya. He straightened and turned to Mr. Captiosus quickly, pointing at him, "You. Quickly. Explain."

Mr. Captiosus bowed again, "It's what Mr. Night's chameleon splice said. He asked, how do you know that those closest to you can be trusted? And he looked to Amoya. I got to thinking, what is the best way to bring your majesty down? Have your Queen betray you. It's obvious that they will be trying to set up the House of Abrasax and cause dissention from within. Why don't we help the matter along?"

"Help along your Queen's death?" Balem asked coldly.

"Your majesty, since you have changed your will, her majesty inherits on your death. How long do you think it would be, if you would be killed, that they would began to target our Queen? Either way she is already a target."

Balem breathed.

Mr. Captiosus leaned over a picked up a data pad and scrolled through it. " I suspect that there are other chameleon splices around here. We are going to make them an offer they and their masters can't refuse. The idea is to blank her majesty's memory and reconstruct them. Unless they are looking for that marker, even if they do a brain scan it will show up as a memory loss. We even make her forget that you have rewritten the will. The two of you must somehow began to drift from each other. With everything that is going on, no one will examine too closely the tensions that causes his majesty to lose his temper more frequently from stress."

"And what is it you are hoping for? Them to try to kill me?" Balem asked.

"Yes, actually."

Balem waved his hand gracefully, "And how pray tell, am I suppose to miraculously survive that?"

Mr. Captiosus handed Balem the data pad. The monarch took it and scrolled through it. Then he looked up at the owl splice, "Seriously?"

Mr. Captiosus nodded, "I will inject you with Refocillo Serum. It will lay dormant in your system. Once you are "killed" it will activate and the nantites will repair everything. It will keep you under for three days, making it like you are dead. The fourth day you will awake like from a sleep. Again unless they are specifically looking for it, it will not show up on whatever scans they used."

Balem blinked slowly, "And in three days you hope that everything will be settled?"

"I don't have every single detail ironed out your majesty, but if it isn't, then I will transport your body to a secret place."

"A secret place?"

"Yes, your majesty."

"Which is where exactly?"

"Again, I don't have all the singular details ironed out."

Balem brought a hand to his temple and held the tips of his fingers there as his eyelids fluttered.

"We need help fine-tuning it obviously", Amoya offered.

"Obviously." The Entitled snapped before letting out a sigh. "No."

"No?"

Balem lowered his hand, "No."

"This is the best..."

"It's the stupidest plan I have heard! This plan requires so much from the our adversaries. If they move correctly as we predict then it works. If not..." he stopped for a moment staring at Amoya, "...and furthermore, this plan is liable to get you killed." Balem threw the data pad on the table.

"I'm willing to take that chance", Amoya said crossing her arms.

Balem's nose flared again as he stared down at Amoya. After a moment, he waved his hand to Mr. Captiosus, a sign to get out. The owl splice bowed and exited. All the while hazel eyes never left brown ones.

"I. Don't. Care." Balem spoke between grit teeth.

"What is your other option? Do you have another brilliant plan?" asked Amoya, "You do realize if we do nothing they might get the upper hand. At least this way we are evening out the playing field. And it may come to the point where we all die anyway, if whoever is doing this has their way. At least this way we have a fighting chance."

Balem's eyes narrowed, "Have you thought this through? I don't know how much Mr. Captiosus explained to you about neuro-cameraing but it has its risks. At best we know you'll have headaches every day, perhaps all day and between memory reconstruction and blanking you, you won't even remember why. In addition, you'll be in danger and you won't even remember why. You won't even remember that you are a spy. For crying out loud, you won't even remember this very conversation!" The Elder Abrasax's voice had climbed higher and higher until the end of his tirade.

Amoya's eyes softened, "I know you're concerned for me."

Balem bristled, "That is irrelevant."

A small smile played on Amoya's face, "Sure it is. Like I said, I know you're concerned for me, but this is the only thing that makes sense. They've backed us into a corner. You know it and I know it. This is our way out. However slim, this is our way out."

Balem was silent a long while, staring at Amoya. "I forbid this", he spoke quietly.

"I unforbid it", Amoya smirked.

Balem sighed and rolled his eyes once, slowly making Amoya laughed. Turning he picked up the data pad and scrolled through it. "We will have to make some modifications to this plan." he finally murmured after awhile, "As it is, it's an disaster waiting to happen."

He blinked when he felt two arms wrap around his middle. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet. I'm not convinced", Balem growled.

* * *

"I've changed my mind."

Amoya sighed. The next night Balem, Amoya and Mr. Captiosus met once more in secret, in the Abrasax private sitting room, the last time they would for the foreseeable future. The entire day prior, secretly, they've began preparing their plan. Well, Balem has been fine-tuning much of the plan while Mr. Captiosus has been getting everything ready.

So far, so good.

No one suspected anything, even if they kept it just between the three of them.

Now well into the night, however, as they were prepared to blank and reconstruct Amoya and turn her into a neuro-camera Balem had began to get second thoughts.

"Balem..."Amoya murmured as she looked up at Balem who stood behind the chair she sat in.

Mr. Captiosus had all his materials out and was ready to go. Balem just stared at the materials, unblinkingly.

Amoya turned to the owl splice, "Excuse us, please." She pointed to an adjourning room. Mr. Captiosus stood and sketched a bow before leaving.

Still Balem stood staring at the table of utensils, intending to be used. Amoya stood and blocked his view, snapping him out of it. He lifted his chin to look at her.

"Come on, it'll be fine", she soothed.

Balem stared at his wife a long while before he finally murmured, "You can't know that."

Amoya closed the distance between them, "Yeah, you're right."

Balem started, "Excuse me?"

"I could die. Very likely", Amoya stated lightly.

Balem felt his temper rising. His eyes narrowed once, "This is no time for games, Amoya."

"I'm not playing games. I'm serious."

"Then why?" Balem snapped his voice rising slightly.

"Because it's our best bet", came the soft reply.

Balem turned around and crossed his arms, "That's not good enough." he growled under his breath.

"Why do you think I just got through signing a host of legal papers? And if that's not enough shooting a video saying I'm not under duress and I wasn't force and blah-blah-blah." Amoya asked incredulously, gesturing to the stack of data pads and the small hand-held camera.

The paper work alone took about an hour. The video took about 15 minutes.

Balem spun back around to face her, his hazel eyes blazing, "This is not funny, Amoya!"

"I don't remember trying to be!" Amoya snapped, "What do you want me say, huh? You want me to say I'm scared, because I am. I know the risks. I know I could very well die! I know this is a gamble of epic portions. I know neuro-cameraing is a shot in the dark and could kill me by itself. I KNOW THAT!" she yelled the last line.

Balem watched her as she breathed trying to calm down. Tears had began to collect in her eyes. She looked away, crossing her arms, "I get it, Balem. I don't need you to remind me." she said softly.

Silence reigned a long moment.

"You don't have to do this, Amoya", broke through the silence.

"I know." Still Amoya didn't look at Balem.

"Then why? Why risk yourself?"

"I should think it's fairly obvious", Amoya said after a moment. She reached up quickly and wiped at her face.

After a moment, a cool touch was turning her chin back. Brown eyes met hazel.

"It is."

Amoya gave a half smile and sniffed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you."

Balem looked amused at this, "You are allowed a tirade here and there. After all, you are an Abrasax now."

Amoya snorted, "I'd rather maintain my level head. One of us have to."

The corner of Balem's mouth lifted very quickly. His eyes harden and he lowered his hand, "Let's get this over with." He waved his hand.

Amoya nodded as they called Mr. Captiosus back into the room.

Barely ten minutes later, Amoya had passed out. Balem was staring down at her. He barely felt it as the owl-splice shot him with the Refocillo Serum. The nanites that would reverse his death when that time came.

Mr. Captiosus was gathering his materials as he spoke gently, "Remember, your majesty, when she wakes up, you must start drifting from her. The next phase of the plan is to be put into effect."

"I don't need you to remind me!" Balem snapped looking at the owl-splice.

Mr. Captiosus inclined his head as he put everything in a small box. He stood and was on his way out the door when a voice stopped him.

"I am holding your accountable, Mr. Captiosus. I don't care what she signed, I will have you executed if she dies."

"Understood, your majesty. If that would to be the case, I would not object for I feel quite a bit of responsibility for this." a pause, "But I believe in her majesty. I know she can do this, even if she won't remember that she is doing this."

"Leave", Balem growled.

Mr. Captiosus bowed once again before exiting. Balem stood staring down at Amoya.

Finally he turned from her. If they were going to do this, they would do it right. In a day or so, he would have cameras installed in his private chambers, siting recent events, as a so-called worry. He'd do everything short of baking the cake for whoever his adversaries were.

He would not let them win.

 **TBC...**


	15. Ch 14: Reset Part III

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 14: Reset Part III

 _\- Now Present Day: -_

Balem looked down at Amoya who had turned back to him. She frowned and reached up to push the hair out of his eyes. "You okay?" she asked softly.

Balem only stared down at his wife. Shakily, he reached up allowing the tips of his fingers to graze her cheek, as if testing to see if she was real. It took some moments before he managed to cup her cheek. All the while, his mouth moved but he couldn't articulate a sound. Amoya leaned into his hand, closing her eyes briefly.

In the meantime, the volume had steadily rose in the room.

"Quiet!" Titus snapped after a moment coming to his feet. He wiped away a trail of blood from this mouth as he glared hatefully at Amoya, "How are you alive, woman?!"

Amoya turned to Titus with a glare, "I have Dalila and Naveen to thank. They came back and saved me from the void."

"Who?" Titus asked annoyed.

Amoya waved a hand to the two chameleon splices, that stood towards the back of the room. That movement caused her a bout of dizziness making her shut her eyes briefly, with a light stumble. Balem didn't miss this. His hand slipped to the middle of her back to steady her. When she opened her eyes, she gave him a small reassuring smile, but Balem didn't miss that her eyes weren't quite focused.

"You!" Titus hissed his eyes locking onto the Twenties, "You betrayed your master?"

"He's no longer our master", Naveen aka Twenty-one said lifting his chin.

"You were always defective chameleon splices", he hissed once, looking down his nose at them.

Balem's gaze swung to the duo and his eyes narrowed as he took them in for the first time.

"It's was always said that the fact that we could understand human emotion and that we always felt bad after our jobs was a defect. Well, we made a choice to save her Ladyship and whatever happens to us we don't regret it. We know we'll have to pay the price and we are fully prepared. At least we won't feel bad anymore", Dalila aka Twenty-four spoke, holding her head high.

Titus laughed once, "I can't believe this. A couple of chameleon splices grow a heart!" he spat, "It's disgusting!" His gaze swung back to Amoya, "And you named them?"

Amoya looked at him, "So how does it feel? To know that in all your planning, you didn't count on the result of a little human kindness." she inquired.

"Human kindness is overrated." Titus hissed, "And it's not cost effective."

"And yet here we are!", Amoya snapped, "Besides, just so you know, using neuro-cameraing was perfectly legal. Even if I had died, I signed a waver saying that it could be used as evidence despite my death. Even recorded a short video as well, stating the same thing."

Titus chuckled once, "And you think that have been enough to refute your signifying seal on my document?"

"Once they tested that your Amoya was in fact a chameleon splice, yes."

Titus gave a cool smile, "Like they would know that." he cooed.

"Dalila?" Amoya asked.

Dalila bowed low."Your majesty." Straightening she pulled a small taser. "At least 100 volts of electricity to the base of the skull should sever the stream."

Mr. Night, who was really Forty-seven, had been watching the proceeding in silence up until now. Now he began to squirm trying to escape. The guards held him while Dalila pressed the taser to his skull. It jolted his brain; Forty-seven tried to keep the connection but failed and turned back into this normal albino self. He slumped forward panting.

The room tittered again, at this new revelation, some looking dumbfounded. Dalila stepped back as Forty-seven managed to raise his gaze. His eyes were the vibrant reptilian green. He hissed up the two of them, "How dare you? How dare you betray master? You will pay!"

"We can also tell you where the bodies of the real people are as well, your majesties." Naveen bowed towards Amoya and Balem, "We can also supply whatever other evidence you may want."

Amoya gave a small smile and inclined her head in thanks.

"You can't!" Forty-seven tried to lung at the two of them but between his body being too weak as well as the guards holding him back, it proved ineffective.

Amoya turned to Titus who looked frozen at this. "Anything...else?" she asked mildly. She breathed once trying to get more air. She shook herself. Dalila looked at her worriedly. Balem noticed the way Amoya breathed. His hazel eyes roved over her face. Her usually vibrant gold-brown skin seemed a little pasty, lacking its usual hue.

Balem felt his temper rising again. Amoya felt his hand flex on her back, that had yet to move from its position. The elder Abrasax looked up at his younger brother, his eyes narrowing, "You are done, Titus. Once they review these claims and find them sound, you won't get jail time. No, this is execution worthy."

A flash of fear shot through Titus' eyes. He drew himself to his full height with a small smile, "No. No, they won't kill me. I'm an Abrasax. I'm third primary."

Balem's voice dipped dangerously low, "If they won't, I will and I wouldn't be as merciful as they would." The room itself seemed to shiver at the cold promise in his voice. Even Titus's eye twitched in response.

Balem turned to the Aegis officers. With his free hand he waved towards his brother, "He's all yours."

Officer Mark and Matt moved in sync and captured Titus Abrasax.

"Hey, hands off! How dare you treat me this way?!" Titus cried shrugging away their touch. It made the two officers be more aggressive in handling Titus.

"My lord!" Famulus exclaimed in shock at seeing her lord treated thusly. A guard grabbed her, making her look back at him. "Hold on, now!"

"You will get the death penalty, dear brother, while life in prison awaits your household", Balem explained mildly, "However depending on my mood, I may move for the execution of your entire household."

Titus struggled. "You can't do this!" His eyes sought his sister. "Help me Kalique!"

"Help you what? I don't clean up your messes, dear brother." Kalique murmured with a raised eyebrow.

Titus looked around wildly, his eyes huge as saucers.

"Wait". Amoya held up her hand.

Titus breathed once, "My Lady, you are gracious beyond all measure. Please, help me. Don't let them kill me. What about human kindness?"

Amoya let go of Balem before crossing the short distance to place her hands on Titus shoulders. Balem's eyes narrowed as the room waited to see what the Queen would do.

"I know", she murmured.

Titus smiled at her. "You understand."

Amoya breathed deeply, "Yes, I do."

Quick as lighting, she brought her knee up. Titus howled and doubled over. If it wasn't for the officers holding him, he would have sunk to the ground. Since they had his arms, he doubled over in an awkward position, trying to bring his legs up to tend to his new wound.

There was dead silence in the room as Amoya's harsh breathing filled it. She tossed her head back, to get the hair out of face, "I've been wanting to do that...since I first met you. Remember? I said the next time I wouldn't give you warning." She heavy a deep breath, clearly out of breath, "Well...welcome to next time."

She turned and waved her hand. The officers dragged a moaning Titus Abrasax out of the room, followed by Famulus. The small entourage of Titus was herald out of the room by other guards. Amoya brought a hand to her forehead, shutting her eyes. She felt her equilibrium shift.

Balem reached her and placed his hands on her shoulders. She leaned into him once.

"My lady?" Dalila asked concerned.

Kalique clapped her hands, "Well, I must admit that was the most fun I've had in ages! However, I am weary and will retire now. I leave in the morning." She bowed to Balem and Amoya. "I am pleased to know that both of you are well. Good day."

With that Kalique and her entourage filed out of the throne room.

Balem studied his Queen before turning cold eyes to the Twenties. "You." he hissed.

"Wait, please", Amoya murmured pulling back from him.

Hazel eyes looked down at her. "They saved me." Amoya explained.

Balem's eyes narrowed, "They are chameleon splices. Technically they are illegal and will have to be destroyed."

"Balem..."

"Your majesties..."

Both looked to see that Dalila and Naveen had moved and was kneeling before the two, head bowed.

"It's true we are chameleon splices and we know that we were never suppose to exist." Naveen said.

"And I know we have much to be punished for and we don't seek to escape that. It was I who attempted to murder you as her ladyship, my lord. I will no longer be a coward and will accept the consequences of my actions. But know that we are now loyal to her majesty for the kindness she showed us. She named us and even after knowing what we did, allowed us to keep the dignity of having a name. We are nothing but numbered soldiers but her ladyship changed that and for that we are forever in her debt." Dalila spoke.

Balem eyes blazed and he went to speak but Amoya rested her hand on his arm. "Please." she murmured.

He growled under her hand, "Put them in a holding cell. We will discuss this later." He turned to the group, "And the rest of you...OUT!"

Amoya winced at the volume. It echoed in her head, making her shut her eyes tightly. She breathed once more. She heard shuffling then nothing. It wasn't until a soft touch on her cheek, that she managed to blearily open her eyes. Balem surveyed her, moving the strands of gold hair out of her face.

His nose wrinkled, "This hairstyle..."

"I hate it", Amoya bemoaned.

"The color...maybe okay... but the style..." he trailed off then shook his head once, "No, this is not you."

"No it isn't. And I still hate it, color and all. Too many memories", she murmured, feeling drained all of a sudden, "Too much change." Her voice slurred then.

Balem lifted her chin to gaze at her. Amoya's eyes were half-lidded, "Are you alright?" he asked.

Amoya smiled wanly, "Tired. That's all." She breathed again.

Was it just her or was it hot in here? She blinked.

Balem frowned as he notice Amoya's eyes seem to unfocused more and more, "Amoya?"

Suddenly, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she was falling. Balem managed to catch her sinking to the ground with her. "GUARDS!" he bellowed before turning back to Amoya.

He shook her and suddenly he was having a flashback to a similar time.

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **A.N.:** Would you believe me if I told you we are a little more than half-way done with this story? We are no-where near done. This, my friends, was just part one...the next chapter marks part two of this story, accompany with a new song that will be the theme song for the second half of Revolution.

I suggest you get strapped in, again. *cackles* Balem and Amoya have yet to escape my wrath.

Sorry.

Too much?


	16. Ch 15: The Beginning of an End

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Alright what I dub the 2nd half (or Part II) of the Revolution, now begins. Lots of Balem and Amoya time! I know the first part of the story didn't have a lot of BalemAmoya interaction. This should make up for it.

 **Song Inspiration:** For Part II of Revolution the theme song is: Love you to death by Kamelot

* * *

Chapter 15: The Beginning of an End

Again Amoya found herself floating, only this time it felt... nice.

Relaxing even.

She would continue floating, only...

She kept hearing voices.

First hushed whispers, then the occasional raised voices. That's what finally roused her, forcing her from her floating state. As an moan escaped her, she felt the voices die down. A soft cool touch rested on her cheek making her unconsciously turn into it. After a moment she managed to peel open her eyes. At first they were unfocused but gradually she came to realize that familar hazel orbs were peering down at her.

Was that worry she detected in them?

It took her a moment to get her bearings, as she stared seeming unseeing before she finally blinked.

"Amoya?" came the soft inquiry.

Amoya blinked again before she parted her lips. "Balem?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly. She cleared her throat on reflex.

Even in her state, she felt the roll of relief that poured from Balem. The tension in his frame settle slightly as he breathed. In a rare show of public display he leaned down and touched their noses together once. Amoya was reminded on how he came to enjoy that once she showed him what an Eskimo kiss was.

She couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her, before she realized that something was in her nose. She wiggled it, aware that Balem had pulled back and was watching her every move.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice a little stronger.

"Don't you remember?" came the soft voice of Balem as he stroked her face once, "You passed out."

Amoya's half lidded eyes blinked once. "I did?" she whispered.

Balem straightened then as he looked up over her and glared. The Queen followed his glare, realizing that Mr. Captiosus and an human doctor was standing near her bed. Her eyes roved around then and she realized she was in a hospital room. Amoya even realized that she was hooked up to an IV as well. She wiggled her nose once more and went to wipe whatever it was away but Balem captured her hand without breaking his glare at the duo.

Mr. Captiosus stepped forward and gave a small smile. "I'm glad that you are awake, my Queen.  
We have all been worried."

"I'm sorry for making everyone worry." Amoya murmured.

The doctor looked at a data pad and pressed a few buttons. " You passed out from lack of oxygen. It should be no news to you that your breathing is not well." She was brisk in her statement.

The last while slowly began to return to Amoya. "I remember." she murmured.

Ever since her brush with death, being tossed in the void, her breathing had been stagnant at best. She barely got enough oxygen to not go without the oxygen mask when she finally made it to Jupiter. Dalila had a fit, when Amoya insisted that she could walk into the throne room without the oxygen mask. At that time she had other things to deal with than lugging that thing around. She did relent and use it up until the very door of the room just to appease Dalila and Naveen.

The doctor reached over and tapped a black box that sat on the table next to her, "We hooked you up to another oxygen mask. You will have to carry this box with you and not be more than three feet away from it at any given time. That is what's in your nose."

Amoya's eyes drifted closed and couldn't help the breathy chuckle that came forth, "This world never ceases to amaze me. You have wireless oxygen?" another chuckled before she added in barely a whisper, "Of course you do."

Mr. Captiosus looked amused at this while Balem slowly rolled his eyes. Of course, she would take the time to make comparisons to her old life on Earth. He looked at the short owl splice with a short glare. Mr. Captiosus caught the look and sketched a bow in his direction.

"My Queen, I am happy to see that you with us again. Unfortunately, I must take my leave." He spoke.

Amoya hummed once, seemingly too tired to give a formal reply. Mr. Captiosus looked troubled at this before he turned and walked out the door. The doctor followed.

Silence reigned for a long while as Amoya drifted. Balem looked down at her, his hazel eyes raking over her. His thoughts were thrown back to a few hours before:

 _Balem stared at the empty space where he was holding Amoya not a few moments earlier. He was still kneeling in his throne room. Once he bellowed for the guards they rushed her off, where they were met with the medical staff._

 _Yet, all the while Balem remained frozen. He couldn't seem to function at the moment. It was Mr. Captiosus who eased into the room._

 _"My lord?" he asked inching towards the monarch._

 _The only response was that Balem, unconsciously flexed his fingers. Mr. Captiosus took pity on him and cautiously placed a hand on his shoulder. "She will be okay, your majesty. She is a fighter, you know this."_

 _Balem breathed once and seemed to snap back to himself all of a sudden. He stiffened and Mr. Captiosus retracted his hand quickly. Balem stood, his eyes hard. He seemed to ignore the owl splice as he walked purposely out the room._

 _That feeling. That crushing feeling was hovering on his back. That feeling he had felt one other time in his life, when he was close to losing someone else he cared about. He shook himself. He would not allow himself to travel that road._

 _However, for all his willpower, that feeling was creeping up, threatening to shut him down. Balem Abrasax would not stand for that. He had other things he needed to be doing._

 _First thing, though was to find out what was wrong with his Queen. Since beginning her life on Jupiter, the most Amoya suffered was the occasional sniffles, once she was bed-ridden with a cold before they were married, but never had she passed out before._

 _Balem didn't want to admit that it frightened him to see her brown eyes roll back into her head before she dropped._

 _Mr. Captiosus followed Balem Abrasax as he entered the medical room._

 _"Where is she?" he ask in a tight voice, his eyes searching the room._

 _Only a few nurses, and nurse bots were roaming around. One came out a side room with barely a glance to the monarch, before picking up something and re-entering the side room, shutting the door. Balem's eyes followed her until the door shut._

 _"WHERE IS SHE?!" he screamed._

 _"Your majesty. They are probably working on Queen Amoya." Mr. Captiosus offered when he saw the nurses looked scared. The all glanced at each other not knowing what to say._

 _Balem turned to the owl splice. His eyes were beginning to take on a wild look. It didn't help any that his hair was still not in place. Mr. Captiosus didn't seem to be affected by this. "I can see that, you moron." he hissed, "What I want is details."_

 _As if on cue, the side door opened and the doctor came out. Noticing Balem she gave a bow. "My lord..."_

 _Balem turned to her and stared. The doctor glanced at Mr. Captiosus before she spoke, "Your majesty, it seems that there wasn't enough oxygen getting to her majesty's brain. That is the cause of her passing out."_

 _The doctor brought up the data pad and pressed on it, "My understanding is that she narrowly survived being tossed in the void?"_

 _"Yes." Mr. Captiosus answered since Balem seemed to just be staring at the doctor, "I think she was clinically dead for a spell. Thankfully, she was revived."_

 _The doctor nodded once and looked up from the data pad, "Yes, that explains it."_

 _"So, she will be okay?" came the soft voice of the first primary._

 _It was here that the doctor gave pause, "She should awaken in a little bit."_

 _Balem's eyes narrowed._

 _The doctor offered the data pad to the Entitled. It was a moment before Balem took it and looked at it. He saw the readings. The only sign that he was affected, was that his jaw flexed. While Balem was occupied with the data pad, the doctor gave Mr. Captiosus a meaningful look. He looked away as they both waited for an reaction from Balem._

 _It came when Balem slammed the data pad on the floor, shattering it. He spun around to Mr. Captiosus and struck him across the face. It took a moment for Mr. Captiosus to collect himself as he looked at his monarch._

 _He didn't comment, on the tightness of Balem's eyes._

 _"I told you I would hold you accountable." his voice as tight and could barely be heard._

 _Mr. Captiosus lowered his head, "I know."_

Balem blinked coming back to himself. His eyes trailed down to Amoya to see her looking up at him. He breathed.

"You okay? You look out of it." Amoya asked softly after a moment.

Balem rolled his eyes softly.

"You're sulking. Why?" When Amoya received no answer, she tugged on his hand. He still hadn't let go of her hand.

"I don't sulk. It's unbecoming." came the reply a few moments later.

Amoya mouth quirked as her eyes lowered. She dragged his hand up to her face and cuddled it, turning slightly on her side to face him. "Well, don't think so loud." she murmured, "It's disturbing."

Balem only breathed.

 **TBC...**


	17. Ch 16: Breaking Open

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Thanks so much for all the reviews! I love reading them!

* * *

Chapter 16: Breaking Open

The next week passed in a flurry of activity.

With the revolution firmly coming to end, all the loose ties had to be handled. The Aegis sent a ship to pick up Titus and his household that came with him to Jupiter. In the meantime, another ship was sent to The Clipper to seize that asset.

Within a day or so Ajay Camou and his household was arrested by the Aegis as well. With the last noteworthy competitor (at least for the time being) out of the way, Balem Abrasax had his hands full making sure his company didn't fall apart from the inside.

The Aegis was also sent to the destination that Dalila and Naveen gave for where Ajay Camou kept the real people that were used for streaming. Once picked up by the Aegis, they would be taken and quarantined and questioned. Once everything is settled, if they were convinced that they were taken by force, the victims, including Mr. Night would be allowed to return to their normal lives.

In the meantime, Balem Abrasax had some holes to fill, since some of the victims had been on his board. He spent a lot of time reassuring shareholders and not to mention the board of directors.

In those couple of days, Amoya became strong enough to be moved to their bedroom as she hated being in the hospital room. Balem made sure to have the cameras taken out of his private quarters. Although Amoya had found a thread of strength in those days, she didn't want to admit that she couldn't venture very far without getting tired. At least her headaches weren't as bad as they had been those past couple of weeks. She felt her head was still sensitive, but it didn't blow into a downright migraine or headache. Apparently, that was to be expected after being a neuro-camera.

Much to her chagrin, she was assigned a personal nurse. Her name was Ginger and she was a human spliced with some kind of feline. The indignity of suffering a personal nurse was bearable only because Ginger was very motherly.

Like nothing escaped that woman's eye.

Most of time, Ginger spent her time in the sitting room connected to their bedroom, when Amoya didn't need her. But somehow she always knew when Amoya so much as sniffed wrong. Amoya was grateful for the assistance but lamented on her loss of her independence.

Of course it didn't help that her breathing didn't seem to be getting any better.

But then again, it hasn't gotten worse either.

The steady stream of oxygen helped.

She received visits from Mr. Captiosus when possible. He was acting in Mr. Night's place, so he rarely had a moment to spare nowadays. He seemed somber to her, never wanting to reveal too much. Amoya felt that he was hiding something from her pertaining to Balem but she could never get him to tell her what it was.

She was able to ascertain that Dalila and Naveen had been turned over to the Aegis and were currently quarantined. She had already passed onto Mr. Captiosus that she didn't want them to be executed. He was trying hard to make sure her wishes were carried out but Balem didn't really care to have much of a discussion on them. She had mentioned it before to Balem but he brushed it off. Too tired at the time to pursue it, she let the matter go. Mr. Captiosus was a help as he drafted a petition for her to sign stating her wishes. It was already sent to the Aegis for review. Neither of them told Balem about it since he didn't seem to be inclined to care.

In that week, Amoya had never seen Balem quite as exhausted as he was. Most of the time, he came to bed and was out in several minutes. There was a slight shift in his attitude. If he wasn't exhausted, he was tense, even angry at times. He never took his anger out on her, but she noticed that he was seething by the time she saw him. It was beginning to be a throwback to the time when they first met. She had heard of several temper tantrums that he had in that week. She lamented that she wasn't there to help him, if by nothing else then by keeping him calm. The golden girl tried to soothe him as much as she could, but found that a lot of times, she lacked the strength she had previously.

In addition, she found her husband's hazel eyes on her more and more as time went by.

This was one such day.

Balem had taken to creating a mini-office in the corner of the spacious bedroom where he handled his work, when he wasn't in endless meetings. Dressed in his customary black robes, his eyes had trailed to Amoya frequently, until finally it rested on her for a long length of time.

This was a day when Amoya felt an semblance of old strength of hers and was reading a book. A real one, with actual pages, thank you. She had begun to noticed this new action of Balem and usually she didn't say anything. Many times we was too tired to say anything. However today she looked up and into Balem's eyes from across the room.

"Yesssss?" she drawled like a snake.

Balem's mouth twitched once. He didn't answer but instead looked back at his data pad. Amoya returned to her book.

A few minutes passed by. Balem lifted his head, when he heard Amoya sharp intake of breath. He watched her wiggle her nose and rub at it.

"Don't do that.", he ordered.

Amoya glared once at him but stopped, "It was itchy." She breathed and closed the book tossing it on the table next to her. "I'm tired of being in this bed."

"You are confined until the doctor releases you."

Amoya sulked, "I can walk around once."

"You are staying in that bed."

"You gonna make me?" Amoya asked.

Balem lifted his chin, his eyes becoming hooded, "Don't tempt me."

"Yeah, cause I'm a perfect temptress, with a oxygen nasal up my nose, and a simple nightgown. At least my hair is back to normal." she mused running her hand through her short hair.

It laid down around her face in a simple style instead of the curly one she usually had. Gone was the yellow ram-horn. She was conscious enough to request that they fix her hair. She didn't want the memory of that hair anymore. The memory of Ajay Camou trying to change her, control her. Even during all the confusion, she didn't like his closeness. He was entirely too forward. It reminded her of the first time she met Titus. She didn't like it from Titus and she didn't like it from Ajay.

Balem eyed Amoya's hair. The hairstyle she got from the House of Camou wasn't in any way Amoya. Ajay Camou tried to change his wife and that would not be tolerated. Balem never liked Ajay, he was a bit of a control freak. He just never knew just how far Lord Camou would go to gain control over someone. In Balem's opinion, the House of Camou lacked style, something the House of Abrasax, prided themselves in. He was glad the hairstyle was gone, it made him angry every time he looked at it.

Amoya shuddered, her brown eyes becoming far away. Unconsciously she hugged herself, bowing her head slightly. A light touch on her arm brought her back to reality. She looked up to see Balem had moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He was watching her closely.

He forked an eyebrow, his version of a question.

Amoya breathed once and straightened. "I'm okay", she mumbled.

Balem cocked his head once as Amoya leaned back into the mountain of pillows behind her with a soft sigh. "I'm okay", she muttered again.

There was a bout of silence before:

"We can handle this problem today once and for all." Balem announced all of a sudden.

Amoya looked at Balem curiously.

"You can use Regenex. It will restore you. Then this..." Balem waved his hand over her, "...won't even be an issue."

Amoya was silent a long while, staring at Balem who stared right back. The Queen blinked before a small smile appeared on her face, "I was wondering how long it would take you to have this conversation, especially since you know exactly how this conversation is going to go."

"Yes, so you should make my life easier and get in the pool." Balem said, his eyes narrowing.

Amoya slid down a little, to lay down better, "You know that won't happen."

"You're right."

Amoya started at that.

"I will drag you out this door myself and throw you in if you continue this foolishness."

Amoya gave a breathy chuckle, "Ahh, as if you could."

Balem glared down at his wife, "It's a very simple concept."

"No."

Balelm's scowled, "No?"

"No."

Balem turned his face away from Amoya to hide his expression. He felt that anger beginning to rise. Why must his wife be so stubborn? There are times he questioned his sanity on why he married her. Using Regenex was as easy as swimming in a pool, literally. "You have to get over this issue with Regenex." he growled.

"Get over the homicide of millions, billions, just to save my own skin?" Amoya asked incredously.

Balem rolled his eyes turning back towards her, "Don't be so dramatic."

"Well, what would you call it?" Amoya managed to snort.

"Some lives..."

Amoya cut him off with a snap, "You finish that statement, and I will summon the energy to slap you."

Balem turned and looked at her then, "You only get that one time." he drawled.

The two of them glared at each other.

"I don't want to discuss this anymore." Amoya state breaking the silence and turning away from Balem. She shut her eyes.

After a moment, a soft cool touch under her chin gently tugged her face back. Opening her eyes, she looked into the hazel orbs of Balem that seemed to quiver once. His voice was soft, "Is it really that much of a task? Can you not even consider it?"

Amoya breathed as Balem asked softly, "Not even for me?"

She made a small strangling noise. She literally could not bring herself to entertain the idea of using Regenex. It was just so abhorrent to her. As much as she would want to save herself, even just to spare Balem pain, she just could not bring herself to do it. All those people who died, crying out at her. She shuddered again.

Not even for Balem could she do this.

Balem saw her reaction. "I see." he whispered.

Balem expected no other response, but to have it finalize, made a torrent build up in him. He dropped his hand and looked away from her. "So..." a paused, "...you will just..." another pause longer this time. He fought to say the word that was so foreign to him. He finally managed to choke it out, "...die on me?"

Suddenly that familiar anger built up in him. He was Lord Balem Abrasax, first primary of the House of Abrasax! Whatever he wanted he got. He wanted Amoya he got her. Now, she was going to deny him this? His eyes blazed as he stood, whipping around to face her. Amoya felt the tension build in him and looked up at Balem. She was unafraid of whatever temper tantrum he was going to throw. In fact, she expected it. She knew that he hid any heightening emotion behind anger.

"I won't stand for it." Balem hissed, "You are an Abrasax now. You have all these resources at your disposal. You are an Entitled. You are entitled to this. Suffering like this is beneath you. Beneath both of us. If you won't do what's good for you, I will do it for you."

"You'd force me, Balem?" Amoya asked.

"If it means saving your life, yes."

Balem found his nerves rattled when Amoya unexpectedly beamed at him. How did this little slip of a woman manage to take hold of him like this? Even after almost 11 years of marriage, it still boggled his mind.

"No you won't."

Her confidence grated his already fragile nerves. He straightened and crossed his arms, "Explain."

Amoya hummed once, "You and I both know that you won't. Why else are we just having this conversation now? If you had thought seriously to do this against my will, you would not have waited this long. In addition, we both know that if you forced me, that would change our relationship. Forever. We would never be what we are now. That is something neither of us want. Hence I shall repeat, no you won't."

That tirade seemed tire Amoya. She took a shuddering breath and slip further down into bed. Still though she looked up at Balem who seemed slightly frozen on the spot.

Balem blinked rapidly, his head twitching on his neck.

"So...you expect me to what...?" he chuckled humorlessly once, "...let you go?"

Amoya felt a few tears gather in her eyes at this. She didn't answer for a long moment. It seem that Balem deflated as he plopped rather ungracelessly back in his seat.

He started unseeingly at the bed covers for a moment before lifted his head to her. "Is that what you expect, Amoya?" He leaned over, lifting his hand to her cheek to stroke it. "To let you go?"

"I'm sorry." Amoya finally offered softly.

Balem pressed, leaning forward even more, his eyes searching hers, "And there isn't anything I could offer that would change your mind? Anything at all?"

Amoya wanted so badly to think of something if only for Balem to stop looking at her like that. There were rare moments when he was so vulnerable that it broke her heart. She rather deal with a temper tantrum than to see him looking so defeated. Yet, throughout this conversation, though he had shown a moment of rising anger it quickly turned into anguish.

At length Amoya finally spoke, "If I did use it, I would change. You know that. I don't know that I'd be able to live with myself. We'd both suffer more that way."

Balem snatched his hand back as if burned. His hazel eyes had gone hard all of a sudden. Leaning back, his voice was cold, "As oppose to just me suffering for the rest of eternity?"

"Don't do that." Amoya pleaded.

Balem lifted his chin once, "Is it not the truth?"

"Balem..."

"Fine." he snapped turning away, staring straight ahead.

"You knew the outcome of this conversation long before now." Amoya stated softly, dropping her eyes to her hands.

And he did.

But he didn't have to like it. That gnawing black hole in the pit of his stomach grew. That panic he felt one other time in his life began to swamp him. Balem stood.

"Balem?" Amoya asked trying to prop herself up.

The monarch felt himself shaking. He kept flicking his fingers, trying to will off the rising panic. Quickly, ignoring Amoya's cries, he crossed the room and opened the door the sitting room. Shutting the door, he leaned on the wall.

Why?

Why did he have to go through this again?

The panic was similar to when his mother died. His mother towards the end of her life, woke up one day and decided the way she had run the universe for many millennia were wrong and that she had to change it, sending Balem into a tailspin. His mother who had taught him one way of life, all of a sudden wanted to endorse the complete opposite? She had clearly lost it in her old age. After her death, Balem was able to continue. He ingrained himself into their lifestyle, tossing away his emotions.

Emotions that Amoya inflamed, long before she knew he existed.

Emotions that were now threatening to shut him down.

He was better than this!

He knew he was better than this!

If Amoya wanted to throw her life away on a fancy it was her prerogative.

He was first primary, he would not let a mere woman set him back this much. He recovered from his mother, he would recover from his wife. Once she was dead, he would treat her as if she never existed. He would go back to the way he was.

He could do it.

He did it before.

Why then did the very idea fill him with so much anguish?

 **TBC...**


	18. Ch 17: A Fork in the Road

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! Of course I haven't forgotten this story. Just doing a bunch of different things. One thing is I'm starting a comic of my own. So if anyone is interested in an original story and art of mine: it's called Shadopla and it's currently on smackjeeves under the pen name Desertfire. So far there is only the cover but I'm working on uploading the first batch of comics soon.

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Chapter 17: A Fork in the Road

It was a light that caught Amoya's attention, making her lift her head. Looking around, she was discovered she was in a dark place.

"Balem?" she instinctively called out.

There was no answer.

A sense of panic began to fill her. Was she taken again? Did something happen? Was it not over? She tried to breathe through the panic to keep a calm head. Looking back at the pin light in the distance she decided to walk to it. She kept looking around as she walked. All she saw was pitch darkness.

Why was it so dark?

Where was she?

The walking didn't seem to end, so she started jogging.

"Balem?" she called out louder, "Come on answer me! Anyone?"

She stopped and did a 180, looking around. She paused when she saw another pin light in the opposite distance. This confused her. That pin light looked yellowish whereas the one she was jogging towards looked pure white.

Which did she follow?

"Where am I?" she asked trying to remain calm. The sensation was too familiar. Waking up in a dark place, with no around. Was her husband okay?

She breathed, reaching her hands up to clutch her head. Was it all real? Did everything that happened happen or was it all a trick?

"You are in limbo, my dear." came a new voice like an angel out of darkness.

Spinning around she came face to face with an older woman. She wore a white dress with a flowery head crown. Amoya blinked. She looked familiar as if she had seen this woman before.

The woman smiled softly, "It's any honor to meet my son's chosen."

Amoya took another step back and really looked at the older woman, "Lady Seraphi?" she breathed.

Seraphi gave a brilliant smile and stepped forward to draw Amoya into an impromptu hug. Amoya was too shocked to return it before the matriarch pulled back.

The Lady Monarch became serious, "As much as I would like to have a friendly chat and get to know you Amoya, unfortunately, we are pressed for time."

Amoya struggled to keep up, "I...what?"

"What do you remember?" Lady Seraphi pressed.

Amoya stared up at the taller woman. "Um..."

"You are sick, remember?" the older woman supplied.

That sparked enough for Amoya. "Yes, right. I was have difficulty breathing again. It got harder." She brought her hand to her nose. She wasn't wearing her oxygen nasal and her breathing was just fine now.

Seraphi nodded, "Yes, that is right. You slipped into a coma, Amoya. You've been wandering for the past three days, hovering between life and death."

Amoya swallowed, "I was in a coma for three days?"

"Yes. Amoya...and it is that very reason that we must speak quickly, for now a choice lays before you.", Seraphi reached out to touch her arm. She pointed to the white light, "If you keep going that way, you will pass into the next world. However.." She pointed to the yellowish light, "...that way, you will wake up."

Amoya was silent a long moment digesting this. Finally she spoke softly slowly, "Wake up only to go through this again until I die?"

Seraphi's dark eyes turned to her, "That is what we are to speak about. I ask you to consider using Regenex."

Amoya started at that. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. Finally she managed to utter, "I'm sorry. I thought that..."

"...That I learned to abhor my own creation, yes, that is true. Regenex is wrong, I know that now. But have you considered what would happen if you don't use Regenex?"

"I would die."

A small smile played on Seraphi's face, "Obviously. But have you considered the long term consequences? Have you considered what would happen to the universe after you death?"

Amoya looked confused.

"When I died, Balem was barely able to function and I know that my death was hard on him which in turn made him hard on the universe. I'm his mother...but to lose his wife..."

Amoya looked away.

"He locked away his emotions. Of all my children, Balem was the one that was the most tender-hearted. Perhaps in my foolishness that is why I was so hard on him and yet I love him best of all because of that. He was my first born, yes but in addition, I needed him to be what I needed at that time and that was cold-hearted, which went against everything he was."

Seraphi took a shuddering breath and looked away in sorrow, "I willing preyed on that in my final days. I was too cowardly to let myself die naturally so I forced him to kill me."

Amoya gasped, her wide eyed gaze settling on Seraphi. She opened and closed her mouth before finally saying smally, "He killed you?"

"Yes, because I forced him." Lady Seraphi reiterated, "I knew what buttons to push to make him snap long enough to kill me. I willingly pushed him there and I've regretted it from that day to this one."

Amoya mouth was parted in absolute shock.

"I love my son, but I could not be the mother he needed. The mother he should have had and I deeply wish I could fix that but I can't." Seraphi took a step forward, "But you...you were more than I ever wished for Balem in a wife."

Amoya looked up into the deep chocolate eyes of Seraphi.

"You brought him peace, Amoya. You gave him a center again. You saw the man he kept locked up and you brought him out. With you he doesn't feel threatened, he doesn't feel the need to hide behind a mask. Surely you are aware of this."

Amoya blushed and ducked her head. She never really thought of it all quite like that.

"If he loses you now, he will lose whatever goodness he has managed to hang onto. Whatever goodness you have brought out."

"I hear you, but can't compromise my belief like that", Amoya stated looking up at the older woman, "If I use that stuff...I will be haunted. I will feel guilty."

Seraphi nodded once and spoke earnestly, "But what if there was a compromise that allowed you to feel less guilty?"

Amoya looked at Balem's mother warily, "Meaning?"

"Alternative Regenex. A way to make it without the loss of lives."

The golden girl blinked, "I was under the impression that wasn't possible."

Seraphi waved her hand once. Amoya saw then where Balem got the move from, "Oh, it's possible...it just goes against the grain. A grain that I set in motion."

Amoya struggled to understand, "My lady, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but if that's true then why..."

Seraphi smiled, "...Why hasn't it been done from the start? Because at the time of its conception, that was the only way to make it. Now with our advancements in technology it affords us other ways to make it without the use of such primitive means."

Her smile fell and she became pensive. "I came up with a new idea for Regenex shortly before my death. When I brought it to Balem, of course he rejected it. By that time it went against everything I had taught him and I knew he was beginning to think I had lost it in my old age."

Silence drifted for a moment before Seraphi shook herself from her stupor. "Dr. Ahiga." she stated focusing her eyes back on Amoya, " I started working with him on an alternative Regenex. After my death he fled Jupiter. He now recedes somewhere in the level two galaxy, the Consilia Archway. I'm not quite sure where at the moment. That was about all I could glean. Knowing him, he changes his location every decade or so. I'm sure he is further along in his research. It will afford you a starting point at least."

Amoya shook her head disbelieving. An alternative way to make Regenex so billions wouldn't have to die? It seemed so surreal right about now.

Seraphi took a step forward her eyes earnest, "I know what I'm asking you to do, Amoya, but I must ask it. You are the only one that can set a course for the better."

Amoya was silent a beat before she said, "If Balem didn't accept the idea from his mother, I don't know how he would accept it from me."

"Because it wasn't his wife that betrayed him."

Seraphi held up her hand when Amoya went to protest. "From the start I raised him to be someone he was not in the first place. Then I gave him a system of values that was rocky to began with. Then by the time I learned better, I wanted to take back all I had done. As you can imagine, coming from your mother that is confusing. I confused the devil out of him. The one person that was supposed to be a constant in his life, a guiding force, was everything but that. And that, my dear, is a great betrayal for an child to have to bear from their parents."

"What about Titus and Kalique?"

Seraphi gave a small sigh and winced, "Both of them were from a different stock than Balem. Titus especially took to my warp teaching like water to a duck. Kalique is far more close-hearted than Balem. She is more like me in many respects. Balem wasn't."

Here Seraphi gave a fond faraway smile, "He is the best part of my husband. Very idealistic and tender-hearted. It's in part what got my husband assassinated. At least I used to think so, which is why I started Regenex and in turn forcing Balem to not be like his father was. I thought it was for the best, but I see now that I was wrong."

Amoya gave an absent nod and a bout of silence followed as she thought about everything she had learned.

"With time you can fix all of this, Amoya." Seraphi finally spoke.

Amoya laughed tensely once, "That's a lot of pressure."

Seraphi smiled, "But if anyone can do it, it's you. You were born for this."

Amoya ducked her head again, heat flooding to her face.

Seraphi laughed musically, once, "I can see why my son is so taken with you. He has chosen well. Very well. Better than I ever taught him to look for in a wife."

Amoya glanced up at the older woman and gave a crooked smile before lowering her eyes as silence fell over the two of them. She kept rolling the idea around in her mind. Could she use Regenex with this new information? If she could persuade Balem to at least try, could she do it?

Still the idea plaque her.

She was still fearful that she would lose a part of herself if she used Regenex, but she knew if they were to try to find an alternative Regenex, she would have to be alive long enough to see it in motion.

But did she owe it to the billions whose death was looming ever closer to at least try to find an alternative Regenex?

With her status as Queen, it could be used for something.

Something good.

But still, to use Regenex as it is now, filled with the souls of those that it took to make it...

Was it worth it?

Would they understand?

Would she?

Seraphi watched the emotions play on Amoya's face. Sadness began to creep into Seraphi's eyes, "Is there really no compromise to be had?" she asked, "Is there nothing that could make you see, that for once some good can come from the use of this Regenex?"

Amoya looked up then with a wry smile, "Go back and use Regenex long enough to fix Regenex?" she asked.

A small chuckle escaped the former Matriarch, "Something like that."

Amoya glanced at both lights for a long time.

And Seraphi was silent.

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **A.N:** I hope you all enjoyed the special guest star! =D So, I'd like a tally going here. If you were Amoya, which would you choose? Would use Regenex long enough to fix Regenex or would you keep your belief and die? I'd like to know what people think about this dilemma.


	19. Ch 18: The Choice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Thanks for all the reviews! I hope the holidays are going well for everyone. Probably part of the reason I'm kinda slow on this story right now. Also, if you can believe it, the tail end of this story has gotten a little longer. Originally, where I wanted to end it didn't quite end so, this story will probably be almost if not twice as long as Fascination. I suppose the flip side is a lot of BalemAmoya coming your way. Either way, here's your Christmas present. I wish everyone a Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas (if I don't make it back before then)!

* * *

Chapter 18: The Choice

At one time, Balem would have said there was nothing worse than dealing with his mother's death. Dealing with guilt of causing his mother's death.

Now, faced with his prospect of his wife's death, he felt he was back to that place that he thought he would never have to go again. And since she fell into a coma, Balem felt that black hole in his soul widening. The doctors expected her to die soon. They didn't expect her to wake up anymore. And there was nothing else they could do for her.

They wanted to move her body back to the hospital room but Balem wouldn't allow it. The doctors didn't understand why Balem didn't use Regenex on Amoya. They tried to suggest it, but that made him fly into a tirade which resulted in half of them being fired and all of them being tossed out of the room.

That first day, Balem buried himself in his work. Sitting in the darken room of his office, he tried hard to bury himself in work. It proved to be difficult as he found his thoughts wandering and his hands shaking. Anyone who tried to come into the room was met with a cold stare. Mr. Captiosus tried to get Balem to eat but the tray of food was always ignored. At night instead of returning to their private quarters where Amoya's comatose body lay, he stayed in his office.

Whether he slept was another matter.

By the second day, he was prone to violent temper tantrums. He screamed at anyone who so much tried to knock on the door. Mr. Captiosus tried exactly one time, to get him to eat something that day, bringing a tray. That tray almost hit him in the head, as he ducked out of the room. In a fit of anger Balem broke a data pad, throwing it against the wall.

It was that night that he returned to their private quarters and threw Ginger out the door, who still insisted on staying with Amoya.

When the door shut behind him, Balem turned his glare on Amoya's body. "I should hate you for this." he hissed.

He took a step towards the bed, "Why must you be this stubborn?"

He sat down on the edge, "Surely you proved you point."

Moisture welled up in his eyes making him blink furiously. "I should hate you." he whispered.

That night and the third day he closeted himself in the room. He didn't even bother to wear his normal code of dress.

Not even his choker.

He only wore a black silk robe, the sash tied around his waist. His usually perfectly slicked back hair fell into his face. He just sat in the chair in the corner of the room, staring blankly at Amoya's body.

He sat for a long time.

The only thing that Amoya was hooked to was the wireless oxygen. Still her chest rose and fell. Balem half expected each breath to be her last. Watching her die was pure torture yet he couldn't bring himself to go away.

Three days.

Three days of this torture.

And still she breathed on. Was she going to die or not? The doctors were shocked that Amoya was still breathing. They had all but written her off that first day. Balem was secretly pleased at this. Amoya was strong-willed.

She would die when she got ready.

He just wished that she would have been strong-willed enough to use Regenex and stay with him. He absently rubbed at his eyes before stumbling to his feet. Balem walked off the other side of the bed and got in.

Turning on his side, he pushed against her before settling down. His hazel eyes raked over her, before he gently rested his hand fully splayed out on her stomach feeling it go up and down with her breath.

He pushed forward to run his lips across her cool cheek. In her sickness, her skin was not the vibrant golden-brown hue that he had come to cherish. It held a sickly hue he had come to hate. It wasn't Amoya.

It didn't speak of the fire that coursed through her veins.

Balem propped himself on his elbow to gaze down at Amoya. He moved his hand up her body to cup her cheek, "I would have given you anything, you know?" he whispered, "I would have done anything. Anything."

His hand absently traced patterns on her face, touching her lips, "If you come...back to me...I would give you anything."

"You have to..." his voice caught in his throat. He blinked his eyes once.

Balem laid his head almost on Amoya's shoulder, as his fingers touched her cool cheek. His eyes fluttered.

"Please...come back."

* * *

Amoya's eyes opened as she sucked in a breath. A familiar ceiling greeted her and she stared listedly at it for a long while, her eyes half lidded. It took a moment to realize a weight on her person.

She parted her mouth, to help her breath as she turned her head slightly. She was met with Balem's sleeping face. She couldn't help the twitch of her mouth. Amoya always thought Balem looked like an angel when he slept. He slept, practically cradling her head. Amoya smiled once and managed to summon the strength to raise her hand up to touch his face. Her hand moved shakily over his face.

It was this feeling on his face that awoke Balem. His eyebrow furrowed before, his eyes slowly began to open. It took a moment before he realized exactly what he was looking at. Shock and then relief flooded his eyes, as he propped himself on his elbow.

Amoya realized he was looking at her like one would be staring at a dream. His hand came back up to her cheek. She felt the tremble in his hand. His hazel eyes looked pinched and strands of hair fell into his face.

She managed to reach up and push them back then she gave a crooked smile, "You look terrible."

She felt more than heard Balem's breathy chuckle.

"Yes, well...you should check out a mirror yourself." he whispered, his eyes taking her in.

The strength depleted from Amoya and she let her hand fall back to her side, her eyes drifting. "Are you telling me I look terrible?" she asked with a teasing voice.

"No."

Amoya cracked open her eyes at this.

"You're alive. You look beautiful."

Amoya couldn't help but to turn her head in a shy way. Balem rarely spoke so plainly. A hand turned her head back. "Don't turn away from. Please."

Amoya eyebrow rose, her eyes widen before they softened. She managed to reach up with one hand and drag him down to her level. She ghosted a kiss over his cheekbone.

"Like you'd managed without me."

Balelm smirked once feeling the familiar camaraderie between them, "Yes, well. I've grown use to you. You should be flattered."

"Always about you, isn't it?"

"Of course it is."

Amoya pushed Balem back playfully.

* * *

To say the doctors were shocked, that Amoya came back from a three day coma was an understatement. They could not for the life of them figure out how it was possible.

Of the next two days Amoya was silent. Again Balem had taken to doing his work in the corner of the room. Normally she laid on her side, watching him. Balem didn't mind it so much and found his work to be easier than it had in the past couple of days. He was back to wearing his choker with his golden-green pants and black gold-glittered cloak.

"Do you have a pencil and paper?" came a soft inquiry from out of the silence.

Balem blinked and looked up. "Pencil and paper?" he asked as if trying to remember what that was.

Amoya closed her eyes. "Yes, the primitive writing tools for my poor mortal self."

"I have a data pad."

"I want a pencil and paper. A pen will do as well. It's simple and easier and I don't feel like dealing with a data pad. Plus the light hurts my eyes."

Ever since Amoya came back from a coma, the room lights had been dimmed down. She had gotten very sensitive to light. The most light in the room now was the light from the data pads that Balem worked on.

Balem cocked his head, curiosity over coming him. "Very well." he muttered before summoning a servant to fetch a pencil and paper. It was almost an half an hour later that they arrived and gave the notepad and pen to Amoya.

Balem pretended to work, though watched Amoya curiously. For awhile she didn't retrieve the notepad and pen from the table next to her. When she finally did, she dragged it onto the bed, he eyes half closed.

Then she tossed it over on the other side of the bed. Now Balem had stopped to watch her. Then she turned from her side, facing him, onto her back before after a full minute had passed onto her other side, her back to him.

"What...are you doing?" Balem asked curiosity getting the better of him.

"You'll find out eventually, my dear husband." came Amoya soft voice. It held a breathy quality that Balem had come to loath from her.

For a long while Amoya didn't move, until finally she opened the notepad and uncapped the pen. Balem went back to his work on the data pad.

It would be an hour later before Balem heard a rip and look up. Amoya had managed to sit up and rip the piece of paper out of the notepad. She capped her pen and then she folded the piece of paper before turning and tossing the notepad and pen on the table next to her.

Breathing she lifted her pillow and put the paper under it, before flopping down on her back, shutting her eyes.

Silence reigned a long moment.

"Care to tell me what's that about?" Balem asked breaking it.

He saw Amoya smile once, "Patience is a virtue, darling."

Balem scowled once but said nothing.

This woman was going to be the death of him.

 **TBC...**


	20. Ch 19: The Terms

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Alright I was thinking about it and I changed my mind...an extra chapter (or two) will be ya'll Christmas present especially since I've slowed my uploading dramatically right now. (That and we can wrap up this little particular plot line, before what is hopefully the final one begins.)

* * *

Chapter 19: The Terms

It would be that night before Balem would find out what that paper was about. He was back into his black silk robe with the sash tied around his waist, ready to retire for the night when Amoya's soft and hesitant voice broke into his stupor. He was taking off his choker and almost dropped it as her words.

"Did...did you mean it when you said you'd give me anything if I would used Regenex?"

Balem breathed and with shaking hands placed his choker on his nightstand. Turning his hazel eyes raked over Amoya. "Do you doubt my word?"

Amoya shook her head from where she was lying down, "No, I don't. I just..." as pause, "Did you mean it?"

"Yes."

Brown eyes studied him before blinking. Finally Amoya reached up and pulled out the folded paper from underneath her pillow. She toyed with it in her hands, looking uncertain. "If you...I would consider it if..." Here she stopped and held it out.

Balem crossed the room to sit on the edge of the bed, taking it from her. He looked amused, "Your conditions?"

Amoya said nothing. Balem noticed the paper was folded in fourths horizontally. He glanced at her before unfolding it. The first bit of writing made him stop.

Amoya was nervous as she watched him open the piece of paper. She had thought long and hard after her conversation in limbo and still wasn't sure if she wanted to have this conversation. She watched his amusement turn into a small frown.

"1. Find an alternative Regenex", Balem read his voice devoid of emotion.

It was silent for a moment before he spoke, "That isn't possible."

"What if it was?" asked Amoya.

Balem scoffed, "Regenex works. Why would we change it?"

"You are seriously okay with the homicide of billions, so a few can live? What kind of life or system is that?"

Balem's eyes blazed, "Some lives..."

"Don't start." Amoya managed to snap. She gentled her voice, "I know your mother mentioned an alternative Regenex in her final days."

Balem's eyes swung to her, widening. He swallowed. It wasn't possible that she would know that. It unnerved him.

Reading the shock in his eyes and answering his unspoken question Amoya said, "Balem, your mother came to me while I was in a coma."

A strangling noise came from Balem, sounding preciously close to wounded animal. Amoya managed to rest her hand on his arm. "She told me what happened."

Balem looked away from Amoya.

"We don't have to discuss that if you don't want to. But she told me that she tried to institute an alternative Regenex but it was too late by that time. With all the technologic advancements, we'd make strides now. And she...told me of a friend that was helping her with this. We could find this person and make it."

"You make it sound so easy."

"First steps are never easy but it is right. Are you telling me, that you've never questioned the idea of how Regenex is created? Ever? Not once?" Amoya gave a small laugh, "I know you did at least once. You aren't as cold-hearted as you like to think."

Balem ripped away from her, shooting to his feet. He walked over to the window and looked out. He never liked to think about those times. He didn't like to think about things like this. There was a time when he questioned the sanctity of Regenex, especially the first time he witness a harvest. But his mother told him that such was their fate. They were born specifically for the use of Regenex. Not wanting to fail his mother, he began to take on that attitude until one day he believed it himself.

"Every human society is a pyramid, and that some lives will always matter more than others. It is better to accept this than to pretend that it isn't true." Balem recited.

Amoya managed to sit up, propping her pillows up. Even that tired her out. "Do you really believe that? If you did, why did you marry me?"

Balem was silent.

"If you really believed that, you wouldn't have given me a second thought. By this pyramid logic, I was low on the totem pole. You should have married an Entitled or an royal or whatever, yet you chose me. And I know that people were shocked that you chose me. They expect that you would pick several other of the woman of high-born or Entitled status, yet you didn't. Why?"

"I thought it was obvious." came the soft answer.

"I'm just saying, it went against that logic, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you want from me."

A beat of silence, "Your mother wished she could have changed things you know."

Balem turned to Amoya, his eyes tight.

Amoya continued softly, "She loved you but she was lost herself. She made mistakes and by the time she thought to fix them, it was too late. You can fix it now. You have that power."

"Destroy everything we've worked for all these centuries?"

"I doubt it would be destroyed, Balem. Just changed, different. Like a phoenix from its ashes."Amoya made a rising hand gesture.

Balem let out a small chuckle.

"Besides..." Amoya paused before speaking, "Has it made you happy? This life...this way of life. Were you honestly happy all these centuries with this way of life?"

Balem was silent for a long, staring unseeingly out the window, while before he spoke, "If you want alternative Regenex to happen, you will have to stay. No one will believe that I care enough now to change the entire system." He looked at Amoya, "Even if we find, and I'm assuming my mother meant Dr. Ahiga..."

Amoya looked surprised at this.

Balem looked amused, "Yes, he was the one that helped my mother with this new outrageous idea. I don't know where he is now, but if we found him, he would never believe that I actually want to speak with him and not kill him."

Amoya raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well, I might have threatened to have him killed once he was found. Perhaps a reason he fled Jupiter."

"No. Kidding." Amoya stated dryly.

Balem face soften, "You would have a much better time at convincing him that the Abrasax Industries actually want to produce and market an alternative Regenex."

"And your board?"

Balem waved a hand, "Let me worry about such things. You worry about convincing whoever we need to convince that we are interested."

Amoya stared at him a long moment before she let her head flop back, shutting her eyes slightly, feeling drained. She was also dizzy with the prospect that Balem, would actually back this play of hers. Or at least consider it. Part of her expect more of a fight.

Uggh, she was so tired.

It seemed so long ago that she had her full strength. She almost couldn't remember a time when she felt normal and healthy. Not fighting for life with each breath, trying to figure out if the next should be her last.

She let out a small moan, taking deep breathes.

She smiled once when she felt her hand being cradled. "I'm okay", she mumbled.

Balem gazed at her a long moment, from his seat perched on the edge of the bed. He took in her features before he turned and managed to flip the paper with one hand. "2. Make sure I don't... lose myself?" He phrased it as a question.

Amoya hummed before she found the strength to speak, "Yes. If I wake up and I don't feel guilty anymore, I'm in trouble."

She opened her eyes to see Balem looking at her, "I'm afraid if I used that stuff, I'll lose myself. I've seen how these Entitles are and I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be cold and unfeeling. I don't want to not care about others in some way, shape or form. I don't want to become someone who is selfish only thinking about themselves. Or to wake up one day and have misplaced values. I couldn't live like that."

Tears had began to gather in her eyes as she became more visible upset. All the while her breathing was becoming sporadic.

"Calm down, Amoya." Balem ordered, using his other hand to reach over to wipe away the stray tears that fell from her eyes, "It would not do, to upset your system at this late date."

Amoya breathed.

"Besides..." Balem continued lifting his chin, "...I would not tolerate you being anything less than you are."

Amoya's eyes soften then as she managed to breath and calm down.

Balem released her hand long enough to unfold the paper again. He captured her hand before reading, "3. Allow me to teach our children in a new way."

Balem looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Couldn't find a way to word it", Amoya managed a shrug before continuing, her voice firm as it was able to be, "I would never consent to raising an Titus Abrasax or an Ajay Camou."

Balem gave his version of a snort, "No. We don't need another one of either of them. One was one too many."

Amoya smiled once, "And if we have more than one child..."

Here Balem's eyes turned to her before cocking his head. Amoya swallowed at his smoldering look.

She couldn't help the small squirm, before she cleared her throat, "If we have more than one...I want them to love and support each other. Not..." she trailed off, not knowing how to phrase it properly.

"Be at each other throats? Hate and despise each other? Barely tolerate each other?" Balem supplied softly.

"Yes. Something like that." Amoya agreed softly, "Siblings should care about each other. They may not always agree but they should love and support each other. Have each other's backs when it counts. I don't want them to grow up thinking that their sibling is their enemy or competition."

"Like me and my siblings?"

"Balem..." She gave his hand a small squeeze.

She never wanted to make him feel bad about the way his family was raised, but she saw clearly the hate that flowed between them. Especially Titus and Balem. It took a long time before Amoya could see the thinly veiled hate that flowed between Balem and Kalique but it was there. At best they all tolerated each other's existence and at worst they all secretly hated the other.

Amoya always thought, if they managed to give each other a proverbial pat on the back, as it were, it was really only to find a soft spot to stab them.

She saw it constantly whenever Balem would meet up with one or both of his siblings. The constant power play that flowed between them. It was tiresome to watch. That hate is what destroyed them.

The former Earthling would never want that for her children. And since she was coming from an a place where her own mother tossed her away like garbage, she always said there had to be a better way to go forward in life. That if she ever had children, she would raise them how she would have wanted to be raised.

With love and support.

With security.

"It is what it is." Balem dismissed before he looked away once, releasing her hand to unfold the paper again. "4. You must come with me, when I do die." he read.

Balem turned to Amoya his eyes demanding an explanation. "Why do you insist on death?"

"Balem..." Amoya sighed, "If I use Regenex now, I know that it may take some time before an suitable alternative is made. I know that I may have to use it more than once. But eventually...someday I will want to pass from this world to the next. It is the human way. But that would be a long, long...very long..."

Amoya mouth twitched as she continued, "...super long...extremely..."

It had the desired effect, when the corner of Balem's mouth twitched, "I get the point, Amoya. It would be a long time from now."

"Very long time until I am ready. By that time, our family would have grown up and all of that. We will be ready and willing. But when that time comes, I want you come with me to the next world. We will just stop using alternative Regenex and just die and natural death and we'll be together."

"You make it all sound so easy."

Amoya's eyes drifted close, "It's easier than you think actually."

Balem looked back down at the piece of paper to see he had unfolded it all out. He flipped it over finding nothing else written. "These four things are your terms?"

Amoya hummed, all of a sudden feeling sleepy. She felt herself drifting. A soft touch on her cheek had her blearily opening her eyes. She stared at Balem who was leaning over her.

"I give you these four things and you will use Regenex of your own free will?" he questioned, his eyes searching hers.

Amoya moved her head up and down, before side to side. It came off very jerkily as if she was still trying to figure out if all of this was worth it. Balem saw the indecision creeping into her hazy eyes now that it was time to make a final decision. He felt that familiar sense of panic stir in his stomach. He tossed the piece of paper carelessly on the table only for it to fall to floor as he cupped her chin.

"I will give you all this and anything else you ask, if you will stay. Don't go where I cannot follow...not yet." Balem begged.

Amoya's eyes seemed to clear at this.

Balem leaned down and pressed his lips against her softly before pulling back, "I never begged for anything in my life" he whispered, "Not even when my mother died, did I resort to begging but I am begging you now. You want alternative Regenex, fine. If wanted someone dead, I'd do that to."

"Balem..."

The elder Abrasax continued on, "My point is as long as you stay, you can have all that you ask and more. But please...please don't leave me. Not right now. Not like this." Balem voice broke a little and he blinked hard to clear his eyes.

Tears built in Amoya's eyes to see her husband so vulnerable.

He gently turned her head to the side and kissed her neck. Amoya hummed. "Stay...please stay. I love you."

Amoya let out a silent gasp. This was the second time he ever directly told her that he loved her. A few tears fell from her eyes as he placed kisses down to her collar bone.

"I love you too." she whispered back.

 **TBC...**


	21. Ch 20: The Day of Destiny

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Alright, now I will say, Have a Merry Christmas and perhaps, Happy New Year's, if I don't make it back before then!

* * *

Chapter 20: The Day of Destiny

It was late afternoon the next day.

Balem checked over the data pad he was looking at, before rolling up the sleeve of his black robe and pressing his insignia onto it. Satisfied he looked up, just in time for the door to slide open. Amoya was in a hovering chair.

As in a wheelchair that hovered...as it were.

She was pushed into the large pool room by Ginger. A bunch of people ran around prepping a Regenex bath.

Balem saw that Amoya was wrestling with her decision even as she was being rolled in. She was wearing a dark purple silk robe. She had been in this room, only that one time before they were married. That day when Balem decided to let her return home if she wanted to but she chose to remain.

Balem thought it was fitting that defining choices were made in this room. Ginger pushed Amoya to the floating settee he was sitting on. She parked it next to him before picking up the wireless oxygen and handing it to Balem who took it before seating it besides him. Amoya smiled at him once, her eyes still slightly unfocused.

It had been that way since the other night and hadn't cleared since. In fact, Amoya seemed half out of it since they managed to drift to sleep the other night.

A servant stepped up with a bow, "It's ready your majesty."

Balem waved his hand, barely sparing the servant a glance. Finally he lifted his head before slowly standing, data pad in hand, "Everyone. Out." his soft voice full of authority carried throughout the room.

Everyone bowed as they began to back out of the room.

Once the door shut behind the last person, Balem turned to Amoya who had her eyes closed. He reached out and moved Amoya's head to face him.

She blinked owlishly at him.

He released her face and placed the data pad on her lap, "I compose a formal document listing your terms and the fact that I agree to them. I signed it with my insignia."

"Oh..." Amoy murmured her eyes fluttering, "You didn't have to do that. I trust you."

"I don't." Balem stated simply, "This will safeguard your wishes."

Amoya smiled at this, "Ahh, Balem..." She managed to scroll the data pad once to get the idea, as she lacked the strength to really read it.

"It's continent on the fact that you give me my wish." Balem continued softly taking the data pad from her and sitting it on the settee.

Amoya seemed to freeze at this. "I..I know."

Balem reached out and touched her face running his fingers down the curve of her cheek. His finger rested on her lips before he tapped them once. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Pulling back, he straighten before stepping around to the back of Amoya's hover chair. He pushed in forward to face the pool

Amoya swallowed. Even with her hazy eyes she saw the clearness of the pool. She knew that it wasn't just mere water. It could only be Regenex. Now face with the real prospect she wondered if she could go through it.

Balem blocked her view momentarily. "I know what I'm asking of you. I know what kind of sacrifice this is, even if this is on your terms. I recognize that. Don't think I don't."

Amoya stared up at him best she could.

He reached up and pulled off his robe. Even in her state, she couldn't help for her eyes to roll over him once. Balem looked down at her amused before reaching down , his hands on the armrests. He gazed at her a long moment before he used one hand to untie her sash, pushing the robe away from her body.

All the while his hazel eyes never left hers.

Amoya gave a sharp intake of breath, as his hand purposely touched her exposed flesh.

Balem was much stronger than he looked as he managed to help her out of the chair. She brought her hands to his shoulders, using them for support, as he pulled the robe off her body. They stood pressed like that for a long moment.

Amoya gave a pleased moan, shutting her eyes.

After a moment, she felt Balem moving around her, so that he was standing behind her and she was facing the Regenex bath. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She pressed her hands against him, for balance.

"I don't know if I can do this." Amoya finally admitted after a long moment.

"Think about everything you are gaining. You wouldn't just be helping yourself. You'd be helping the entire universe."

"Overselling it a bit much, don't you think?"

Balem was pleased that she hasn't lost her sense of humor, "Technically no. You will began changing this universe. Many will say for the better. It can't be done without you. Hence, I am not overselling it."

A breathy chuckle escaped Amoya. "There goes that pressure again."

"Is there something else you want?" Baleme asked looking at her carefully.

Amoya shut her eyes and leaned her head back to his shoulder. "Like what?" , she asked.

"Anything."

"No."

"Then let's do this, Amoya. It's just like swimming."

Amoya sighed, her voice slurring once, "Only in people juice." a paused, "Okay, that didn't help me."

"Don't think about that." Balem murmured, hugging her to him.

Amoya opened her eyes, "That's like saying don't think about elephants."

Balem wrinkled his nose, "How so?"

"Well, if I say don't about elephants, what do you think about?"

Balem paused before answering, "Elephants."

"Point made."

Balem let out a small sigh, "You are stalling, Amoya and you know it. You have to take the first step. I can help you but I won't force you. You know this. You've always known this."

"Yea, I know." Amoya drawled.

There was a long bout of silence before Amoya shakily took a step. And then another.

Finally she was able to grasp the railing that went into the water.

No, Regenex.

Amoya swallowed staring down at the unnatural clearness. Was a soul this clear? She started hyperventilating a bit. She tried to take a step backwards unable to do so. So instead she tried twisting around, grabbing Balem's shoulders for support.

"I can't. Please Balem. I don't think I can. I know what I asked for but now..."

Wordlessly, Balem stepped aside slightly while still allowing her to use him for balance.

A way out.

Amoya could back up if she wanted and Balem wouldn't do a thing. He'd let her go. Amoya thought about what Lady Seraphi said.

There are two evils at worked here, which was the lesser of the evils?

If people knew that she could have used Regenex long enough to create an alternative Regenex to save billions of future live and didn't would they understand?

If she backed out and died, leaving those billions in the future to die for Regenex would they understand?

She had power now. She had power that she could use for good. Someone should use this kind of power for good and she was in a position to do just that.

Was it fair of her to ignore the greater consequences?

Balem watched the emotions flicker on Amoya's face silently. He had no more words left. Whether she stayed or went was up to her.

It was always up to her.

He always loved her for her compass, a compass he may have once had, had it not been beat out of him. That was in part which attracted him to Amoya.

That and her fire.

Like a moth to a flame he couldn't help but to continue to fly to it. Even if it burned him, he was willing. He was willing to be consumed by those flames if it came down to it.

He was shocked when Amoya turned slightly, facing the Regenex bath. Balem said nothing, not willing to mess up the moment. She took one hand off his shoulder and put it on the rail.

Then she just stared a long moment until finally she spoke softly but full of more conviction than he heard from her in awhile, "Please forgive me. I will make it right. I promise you."

It took a moment before Balem realized she as speaking the Regenex. Perhaps years ago, he would have laughed at a sentiment, but now he was silent.

He was silent when Amoya took her first step into the pool. For every step she took, he took one with her, a silent shadow until eventually she was standing waist deep. Amoya held herself stiff as if she was trying not to touch it. Her breathing was coming in huffs. She turned to face Balem, her hands on his shoulders.

Balem pulled her close to him and ducked his head to cover his lips with her own. Amoya shut her eyes and dipped downward, Balem followed as the Regenex rushed over them.

When Amoya opened her eyes and pulled back, she as drenched, but she found that her breathing seemed to be better. She took a couple of breathes before reaching up and touching the cord she was wearing. Amoya was surprised to find that her old strength seemed to be returned to her. Balem reached up and helped her take it off.

Amoya took a deep breath, savoring the moment, "Is it..."

"It is done."

Amoya looked up at Balem who looked relieved. He couldn't help but cup his hand and drape some Regenex over her body to reassure himself that it worked. He watched her closely fearing a cruel trick of fate.

Amoya looked around before looking down at the Regenex. She reached down and cupped some in her hands, "Thank you. I will honor your sacrifice."

Balem looked her curiously, wondering once more at the marvel that was his wife. She never ceased to amazed him. He hoped feverishly that there would be more surprises in the future. He felt his mouth twitching first and a little and then violently.

For the first time in centuries, Balem felt a grin cover his face. When Amoya turned back to him, she was startled at the grin he was wearing. It took her a moment to process the sight. Once she did a giggle escaped her in response.

"Well, this is a fine sight." she cooed.

Balem looked away trying in vain to stop the grin. What was wrong with him? The last time he vaguely remember smiling like this was when his father was alive. That was the last time he remember feeling this kind of warmth flowing through him.

A soft touch had his gaze returning back.

"A very fine sight indeed", Amoya whispered tracing his freckles, her eyes shining.

Balem's eyes raked over her, "Not finer than the one before me."

"Aww." Amoya cooed as Balem's grin settled into a soft smile.

 **TBC...**

* * *

 **A.N.:** Call the Channel 7 News and while you are at it, breathe people, breathe. I know the feeling, but it wasn't me. I was just as shocked as ya'll that Balem grinned. I had nothing to do with nothing. lol This ends this particular plot line. Next we start, I think we will have one final hill to climb and then this story will be done. (If this story will stop...I'm telling you this next hill I didn't plan until I was editing a little while ago and it appeared out of nowhere, thus making this story slightly longer than I intended.)

Bonus points for whoever can tell me where the line about elephants came from!


	22. Ch 21: Reality Bends

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** I hope everyone had a wonderful Holidays! Just throwing it out there but I updated the first batch of my original comic Shadopla that I mentioned I was working on a few chapters back. Since FF doesn't allow links if you search"Smackjeeves Desertfire Shadopla" usually it's the first link that pops up, in case anyone is interested in my original story and art. Without further ado, here is the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 21: Reality Bends

"No...not again. Please!" Amoya begged under her breath.

Why was the darkness back again?

Why was she in this place again?

She tried yelling for Balem but there was no answer.

Alone.

Again.

She didn't know if she could do this again.

Not again.

Her dark eyes took in the oppressive darkness that surrounded her. It was so dark she couldn't even see her hands in front of her face. She tried running but she never knew if she got anywhere. She couldn't even seen where she was going.

Anger welled up in her, "Let me out!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed around her. She let out a frustrated scream.

Her scream echoed and faded. Silence lingered until suddenly she began to chuckle. Her chuckles turned into laughter.

Her own laughter echoed around her as tears poured down her cheeks. Amoya dropped to her knees, her strength spent. Her laughter died down and turned into sobs.

She buried her face in her hands. "Why won't you answer me?" she cried. "Why?"

"WHY?"

Her question echoed around her jarring her.

Amoya bolted upright, her eyes wide. She breathed and came back to herself enough, to be aware of the fact that she was sitting up in bed.

In her bed.

In her bedroom.

On Jupiter.

Automatically she looked to her right. The spot besides her was empty. With shaking hands, she reached out to touch the empty space. Her hand trembled as she hovered over it.

"Balem?" she whispered.

She was frozen for a long moment before her body darted out of bed. And not necessarily of her own accord either. She moved so fast, she almost tripping on the sheets as she came to her feet.

Amoya looked around the room, searching it's nooks and crannies. She blinked, highly aware of the darkness permeated the room.

It never once occurred to her to turn the light on.

"Not again. No more... please no more", she whispered, her hand coming up to her face.

Her breathing seemed harsh to her ears as she looked around the room. "Balem?" she asked a little louder.

No one answered.

Was she back in that place, only that it manifests as her bedroom? Was it all lies? Did she ever really return to Jupiter? Did she even use Regenex just the other day? Was any of this real? Was Balem even alive?

Fingers shaking, she reached up and grasped her head, pulling at her hair. She wasn't aware that tears were flowing down her cheeks until she heard a sharp cry pass her lips.

"Balem?" she called louder.

"Amoya?"

Her name pierced her haze and she spun around to see Balem standing in the doorway of the bathroom, wearing only black pj pants. Amoya stared at her husband a long moment before suddenly letting out a strangle sound. Balem had no time to process this before Amoya had closed the distance between them and thrown her arms around him. He felt her tremble as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I...I thought that...I..." Amoya couldn't seem to articulate a thought.

Balem went to pull her back but that only served to make her cling to him tighter in a kind of desperation. "Amoya? What's wrong?" he asked softly, although worry clearly colored his voice to anyone that knew him well.

"You didn't answer...you didn't answer until you answered and I..." This set Amoya sobbing, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

Balem furrowed his brow. She wasn't making an sense. He reached up and stroked the back of her head, holding her close. Although he seemed reasonably calm, he was beginning to panic on the inside. He never seen Amoya looking this wrecked. When she spun around at his voice, he saw the wildness in her eyes, the tears flowing down her cheeks. But before he could inquire about it, he found her clinging to him in a desperation that was not befitting the Amoya he knew.

A low moan escaped from Amoya, "I'm losing my mind." she cried digging deeper into his embrace.

"You are doing no such thing." Balem assured firmly.

It was a long moment before Amoya hesitantly pulled back enough to look up at his face, "How...how do you know?" she asked.

Balem looked down at her. He didn't like the forlorn quality he heard in her voice. He saw her dark eyes searching his face. He blinked slowly and drawled, "Because...I would never allow it."

Amoya stared up at him a long moment. Balem stared back before slowly raising an eyebrow.

This finally made Amoya blink allowing stray tears to drop off her face. Balem reached up and wiped those tears away. She shut her eyes and turned her head away, wiping at her cheeks.

It was then that Amoya released her cat-like hold on him and stepped away. "Sorry", she murmured.

Balem realized that she was avoiding his eyes then. Cocking his head, he watched her closely, "Where is this coming from?" he asked mildly.

Amoya reached up and dug the heel of her palm into her eyes. "No..nothing...don't worry about it." she muttered barely above a whisper. She went to turn away from him but his hand snaked out and grabbed her wrist.

"Amoya..." his voice held a note of warning. He was not going to let her get away. His heart had calmed a little but he needed to know what prompted such a 180 of Amoya's personality.

The former Earthling was silent.

Balem reached out with his other hand and tilted her chin. She tried in vain to avoid his gaze but he forced her to look at him. "Tell me." ordered searching her eyes.

Amoya's brown eyes searched Balem's but still she didn't say anything.

Balem pursed his lips and cocked his head once, "I think I deserved to know why my wife was crying."

"I'm tired." Amoya stated.

"So am I but we are having this conversation." Balem continued mildly, "Something is troubling you. Which means it's troubling me which means it's now my problem."

Despite herself, the corners of Amoya's mouth quirked, "How do you mange to sound condescending and worried at the same time?"

"It's a gift." Balem deadpanned.

"I'm sure." Amoya deadpanned back.

Balem's eyes soften at the familiarity of banter however he was not fooled. He absently pulled her back into his arms and began to rub her waist up and down. "Tell me." he murmured.

Amoya stared up at him. Suddenly she let out a small yawn, feeling a lethargy come over her. She laid her head on his shoulder, her eyes half lidded. Her voice became drowsy, "I'm sleepy. Can't we just sleep?"

Balem eyed her a long moment before pulling away. "This isn't over." he promised as they both got back into bed.

He laid on his side, as she laid on her back looking up at the ceiling. She was sleep in a matter of minutes.

Balem was fully aware that her hand had found and held his even as she slept.

* * *

When Amoya awoke she found herself looking into familiar hazel eyes. She smiled once it registered in her brain, "Morning, Balem."

"We have a conversation to finish."

Amoya pouted and sat up, "You don't miss a beat, do you? Don't tell me you stayed awake staring at me all night?

Balem sat up next to her, his eyes still on her, "Don't be silly." he replied lightly, "I've been awake the past half an hour."

Amoya rolled her eyes and went to get out of bed but a hand shot out and grabbed her forearm. She followed it to look at Balem.

"I know you heard me."

Amoya reached over and patted his cheek, "Nightmare, darling. Nothing more."

She went to move again but Balem didn't release her forearm. Exasperated she looked at him.

"That was no mere nightmare, Amoya. We both know this, so let's save ourselves time and skip the melodrama."

"Yea, you're right."

In a blink, Balem found himself on his back, Amoya on top of him. She dropped a kiss on his lips before moving over his cheeks and eventually down to his neck. Balem breathed for a few moments before pushing her back.

"What?" she asked pulling up, but still laying on his chest.

"As pleasing as that is, I will not be distracted." he spoke, his voice slightly husky.

"Yeah, you're right." Amoya drawled, "What? You got some meeting today or whatever?"

Balem felt annoyance well up in him and he twitched. Why was his wife being so infuriating today? "Again, you seek to distract me."

Amoya gazed down at him. He saw something flicker in her eyes and he reached up to cup her cheek. She leaned into it unconsciously.

"You must tell me." he murmured softly.

Amoya turned away once, before looking back at him. She gave a brief smile before lowering her head and lying it on his bare chest. Balem twined his arms around her shoulders. Silence drifting for a long while.

"Is it the Regenex?" he asked softly.

Amoya managed to shake her head once, "No, that's not it."

Balem's eyes trained on her and he forced himself to ask the question he didn't want to ask, "Do you regret it?"

Amoya lifted her head, "I would never regret staying with you Balem. Don't be silly. I've resolved that."

She felt the tension ease from Balem's body beneath her that had cropped her a moment before.

The Queen gave a small smile and added, "We will try to change it so I'm not upset about that like I thought I would be. Still not thrilled but not upset."

"Then what?" the Entitled pressed.

Amoya gave him a long look before she sighed and pushed off him and sat, cross legged on the bed facing him. Her hands toyed with the silk black covers of the bed. Balem sat up and reached for her. "You must tell me." he ordered softly, "I will have nothing standing between us."

Amoya's voice was just above a whisper, "I don't know how."

"Doesn't matter. Just start."

Amoya glanced at him before reaching out to wind her arms around his neck, moving to sit beside him. "I just...feel like I'm losing it."

Balem rested his arm on her legs, "How so?"

Amoya shrugged, "I don't know. Just...when I first awoke on that ship, Camou's ship, I was alone. I called for you but you didn't answer. And since then I've had...other times... darkness, loneliness and no one answered." she began fidgeting, "I can't do that again." her voice hitched, "I can't..."

Balem felt that familiar anger stir as he raged against Ajay Camou and his stupid brother. How dare they put Amoya through this?

He spoke, hoping to stop the flow of tears he felt rising, "It's over, Amoya. You have nothing to fear. I'm not going anywhere."

Amoya sniffed, "Yes but...?"

Balem blinked and raised his eyebrow, looking at her.

Amoya lowered her gaze and fidgeted. "I don't want to talk about this." she finally said after a moment.

"You don't have a choice."

Amoya raised her head and glared at him.

"I think part of my contract with you is to make sure that, how do you put it..."don't change."" Balem stated.

Amoya gritted her teeth, as she felt some anger rising, "That is not what I meant."

Balem forked an eyebrow, "Is it now?" he drawled.

"That was in relation to Regenex", Amoya growled.

"No, it states that after the use of Regenex, to make sure that you remain the same. You never specify why, just that any event after the use of Regenex that is not in keeping with your nature must be investigated. Hence this entire conversation still applies."

Amoya stared at him with her mouth hanging open. After a moment, Balem reached up and snapped it closed with a two fingers under her chin.

Amoya pouted and crossed her arms.

"Sulking doesn't become you", Balem stated watching her.

"Oh, shut up, you."

Balem zoned out for a bit as he waited for Amoya to stop stewing. However after a few moments his patience began to give out again. Bringing a leg up he rested his arm on it. "Well?"

Amoya deflated then. "It's...stupid." her face became hot, as she colored slightly.

"I really don't care. I won't ask again, Amoya." Balem warned.

Amoya sniffed at him and seem to curl into herself. Balem looked at her concerned. Amoya had gone through more emotions in the last 12 hours than all the time he had known her.

Finally Amoya muttered.

Balem rolled his eyes once, "As sharp as my hearing is, even I can't hear that."

"How do I know this is real?"

Balem blinked. Hard.

"Like I said, this is just..." Amoya went to get out of bed but a hard tug had her falling back towards Balem. She glared back up at him, as he looked down at her.

She stopped at the furrowed brow and tight face of her husband. He seemed to be looking at her without seeing her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

It took a moment before Balem to blink back in, his eyes focusing on her. Hazel orbs searched her face.

"That's not stupid, Amoya. That's..." he paused then he spoke softly, "I'm surprised this didn't manifest earlier."

Amoya went to sit up but Balem's hands tightened on her forearms making her lay back against him. "Balem, darling. What is it?"

Worried eyes looked back down at her, "It's a...side-effect of neuro-cameraing."

"What is?"

Balem shut his eyes. "Not being able to tell if something is real or not. Having moments when..."

"When?"

Balem opened his eyes and looked at her, "There was only one instance of neuro-cameraing recorded. The person who was the neuro-camera became disoriented after being one. They couldn't tell what was real or not. Even Regenex couldn't fix it. It got so bad they began to hallucinate. Eventually..." Here Balem's voice hitched as his hands tightened on her forearms once.

"Eventually?" Amoya asked gently.

Balem's face took on that pinched look that Amoya hated from him. She managed to reach up with one hand and touch his cheek. "Eventually, what, darling?"

Balem shook his head absently once trying to get himself together, "Eventually, the person...committed suicide."

Amoya gasped. "Balem!"

Balem shook his head violently once, "I won't let that happen to you. After everything we've gone though I won't let that happen!"

Amoya managed to maneuver herself so she could turn around in his arms so she was facing him, "Balem, you have nothing to fear."

Balem shook his head once. Amoya tilted his chin, "I'm not that type. I won't kill myself."

"You don't understand", Balem voice was slightly broken, "You won't know that you are killing yourself. You may have a hallucination or think something's attacking you or...I don't know, but it's not a traditional suicide when you know what you are doing."

Amoya went to speak but Balem reached up and cupped her face with his hands. "Neuro-cameraing messes with your brain. It alters it somehow. We don't know enough about it but that's why it became illegal to force a subject into such a thing. The risks are great. I should have never allowed you two to talk me into this."

Amoya voice was soft, "It was my choice, Balem."

Balem's eyes flashed, "I shouldn't have allowed you that choice in the first place!"

"Well, it's done now and frankly I'd do it again knowing how it turned out!" snapped Amoya.

Balem's eyes blazed then and quick as lightening Amoya found herself on her back with Balem leaning over her. "I won't let your stubbornness get you killed, Amoya. You need a keeper."

Amoya wasn't impressed as she hissed, "So do you. I'm not going to kill myself, that I can guarantee."

"I know you won't. I will assign a guard for you."

"Hold the devil on now!" Amoya squirmed in his grip once, "I'm not gonna have a guard tailing me everywhere!"

Balem's voice rose slightly, "You will if I say you will!"

"For the rest of my life?" asked Amoya incredulously, "I'm assuming it's not just something you work through for a month and then you are done, is it?" she snorted once, "No, I'm not gonna have someone tailing me all that time, especially since you plan to keep me for a longer than average human life span time."

Balem cocked his head, his anger dulling slightly as he looked down at her who was glaring up at him. Finally, the fire in his eyes was spent unexpectedly and he used one hand cup to her cheek. "So stubborn", he breathed stroking her cheek once.

A moment passed before he spoke again, "You will have to tell me when you have these spells. You have to." his voice was earnest, "I don't care what you feeling. If you think it's not real, you still must tell me. Always. I won't lose you."

Amoya reached up to him then, resting her hands on neck. "I'll be fine."

Balem only looked at her worriedly.

 **TBC...**


	23. Ch 22: The Lost Light

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Chapter 22: The Lost Light

In the weeks that followed, Balem kept a close eye on his wife. He did assign a shadow guard to Amoya that she didn't know about, to alleviate some of his worries. But he knew that the shadow guard couldn't watch her literally, a hundred percent of the time.

Meanwhile, plans for finding Dr. Ahiga was well underway. They followed the lead from Lady Seraphi in Amoya's dream and started searching the Consilia Archway galaxy for him. They settled on sending someone out to sniff around for Dr. Ahiga's whereabouts.

However, both Balem and Amoya was going to busy with the court case coming up. Once that was done, they would finally be able to put all of this behind them. Both monarchs were key players in the court case as they had to testify. Amoya more than Balem was key to the case. Since it was such a big case, it moved up ahead of all the other court cases in the bureaucracy. It was already the most talked about court-case of the millennium.

Which was why they were currently on the Balem's ship bound for Ores. And Balem, for once, was not looking forward to the bureaucracy they were going to have to go through.

That planet annoyed him to death.

It had been ages since he set foot on that planet. Usually if there was some business, he sent someone to take care of it, however this time, required his and his wife's personal presence.

Speaking of his wife, she seemed alright for the most part although she seemed to frequently become lost in thought easily nowadays. Normally, that alone wouldn't worry Balem but with everything they had gone through, it was cause for his concern.

Although she had many smiles for him, her eyes seemed far away most of the time. They hadn't really talked about her time when she was being used as a neuro-camera. Well, in their defense they didn't really have time to talk about it, between all that happened with Titus and Amoya becoming ill.

And truth be told, he wasn't sure his nerves could stand hearing it. Just watching as much as he watched during the time she was a neuro-camera put him on edge. That and she would have to talk about... (as much as she was able considering she didn't know she was a neuro-camera when she was being used as a neuro-camera)... during the trial.

Balem really wasn't looking forward to this trial. He wanted it to be over already.

The most excitement she had shown was when she finally convinced Balem that she wanted to "claim" the chameleon splices after the trial was over.

Balem wasn't thrilled and didn't really trust them, the female even less...

("Dalila", Amoya cooed, patiently, "Her name is Dalila.")

...since Dalila, was the one that streamed Amoya and tried to kill him, but he couldn't deny that the two seemed to like his wife. (Though to Balem's way of thinking, who wouldn't like his wife?)

He knew because they were allowed to "hologram-in" to speak to Amoya since she had become anxious about them. And he allowed it, if only to keep his wife calm, especially with everything that was going on right now.

Nowadays, Balem found he didn't want a whole lot of drama. If he could cut out the level of drama he would. They went through enough for the next millennia.

Naveen and Dalila assured her that they were alright and they have repeatedly said they were willing to accept any consequence for their actions. Balem was told that Naveen and Dalila were being cooperative. It was because of them that the Aegis was having a easy time rounding up everyone involved. It was because of Naveen and Dalila, the case was going as fast as it was.

Balem found he couldn't be displeased about that.

* * *

Amoya stared at the mirror in front of her.

Currently, she was in the spacious bathroom in the private quarters of Balem's ship. He was currently in the meeting. Amoya had changed her outfit to simple short black dress to lounge around it. She was happy to have spoken to Dalila and Naveen again and was feeling pretty good until all of a sudden something hit her.

She stared at the mirror, he eyes becoming unfocused. She reached up and placed her hands over her eyes before bringing them down. Amoya looked around the room as if she all of sudden didn't know where she was.

"Balem?" she asked.

There was no answer.

She looked back at the mirror at her reflection. "He's in a meeting." she murmured the information came back to her.

Wasn't he?

Amoya gave a small laugh and shook herself. Of course he was. She had just seen him not even an hour ago.

But did she really?

"We are going to Ores.", she told herself, "We are on the ship to Ores."

With a firm nod she turned and exited the bathroom into their bedroom. She pouted once, trying to find what to do before turning and walking into the sitting room. Plopping down, she watched the hyperspace stream go by.

The Queen's mind began to wander. "This is real", she kept murmuring to herself.

Amoya hated to admit that she found that she had to fight with herself to remember that this was reality and that Balem was fine. That she was fine and could see him anytime she wished. She hated that she seemed to be dependent on his constant presence nowadays. She fought with herself to make sure she didn't become too clingy.

She rubbed at her eyes.

Suddenly the lights in the room flickered. Amoya winkled her nose and looked up just as they flickered again. "Technical problems?" she questioned.

The lights in the room went out.

Amoya groaned. "Really?" she asked, standing up.

All of a sudden a sense of deja vu hit her. Swallowing she fought to remain calm. "It's just technical problems", she muttered walking over to the light switch. She didn't get there as she a sound made her spun around.

It was coming from the bedroom, which was also dark.

There wasn't someone that stowed away on this ship waiting to kill her, was it? She tried to stop overdramatizing things. But then again, Titus and Ajay was still alive and who knows what they managed to order even from behind bars.

Amoya paused.

"I know this.", she said going still, "I am not going to be a murder victim because I didn't follow the rules of a horror movie. Never investigate."

With a firm nod she turned to walk to the door.

Only to find the door was not there.

It was just the wall.

Amoya's heart quickened as she walked to the wall and pressed her hand to it. "No-no...it was just here a moment ago." she muttered. She looked around feverishly for it before spinning around to face the room.

She shut her eyes tightly, "It's just a dream. You've seen this in movies before. It's just a dream. Just your imagination."

"Imagination?" came a familiar voice, making Amoya's eyes pop open.

"Who..." she asked quietly with a quiver in her voice.

"Over here. Yes, over here." the voice said as Amoya followed it.

She came across a vanity mirror. She went to walk by it but froze and turn as something caught her eye. Her reflection stared back at her and she relaxed. She reached up to absently scratch her head only to find that her reflection didn't follow.

Amoya jumped near a foot in the air.

"Calm down!" her reflection snapped a scowl on her face.

"You...how?"

Her reflection smirked, "He's not coming, you know."

Amoya blinked, "Pardon?"

Her reflection sneered, "He's not coming."

Amoya paused a long moment, "You mean Balem?"

"Who else?", her reflection rolled her eyes.

"That's not true."

Her mirror image gestured, "Do you see him anywhere?" She smirked. A smirk that Amoya didn't have in her arsenal, "He left you alone. Just like your mother."

The former Earthling bristled, "That's not true!"

A wild look crept into her reflection's eyes as she brought up a clenched fist, "Yes it is! He used you! He used us until he got all the use he could out of us! Who knows? He might have been planning this all along!"

All the while Amoya kept shaking her head as her eyes started becoming wet, "No! He loves me!"

"Love you? Loves us?" Amoya's reflection sneered leaning forward, "We are not women to be loved. Our mother left us! Our father is a no-show. And now our husband has left us! At some point in time, everyone, _EVERYONE_ , leaves us."

"NO!" Amoya cried reaching up to clutch her head.

Her reflection seemed to calm then. Narrowing her eyes, she asked coolly, "Then where is he?"

Amoya blinked, her mind churning. It took her a moment to search her memory. To search through the cobwebs building in her head. "He's in a meeting." she murmured.

An eyebrow lifted, "And you believe that?"

"He's in a meeting. He said that if I called, he would come." Amoya was surprised to find that her voice was firm as she said this. She glared at her reflection. "He would come." She repeated.

"Then where is he?" her reflection snorted before continuing with a sick, patronizing smile, "I can't believe you are depending on him like this. You are weak. You were always weak."

"NO!" Without thinking Amoya grabbed the vase that was sitting on table and slammed it into the mirror. "BALEM!"

* * *

The 4'6 tall female bat-splice was hanging in the ceiling when she heard the crash followed by Amoya yelling for Balem. Quickly, she dropped down and punched in the code to the room before darting in and up to hang in the ceiling. From her vintage point, her black eyes surveyed the room taking in the smashed mirror as well as pieces of vase lying everywhere.

Radioing Balem via a button on her wrist she said, "Your majesty. It's the Queen. I believe you need to be here for this."

Amoya's head twitched in the bat-spliced direction but she didn't look up or even directly towards the door. Her brown eyes looked unfocused. Seeing nothing but the wall, she grabbed a shard of the vase and held it out in front of her.

The female bat-splice landed deftly on her feet and held up her hands, eyeing the shard, "Your majesty, his majesty is on his way. Put the shard down."

To Amoya, the bat-splice's voice sounded garbled in her ears. She slashed the air. "What is that?" she asked.

"They are coming to take you away." came the familiar voice.

Amoya groaned and looked at the broken mirror, "You still alive?"

Her reflection appeared in the numerous broken shards, "You can't kill me, silly. I'm you."

"Then shut up and obey me! Quite talking!" Amoya snapped.

The bat-splice's ears twitched as she looked concerned. Thankfully, at the moment Balem quickly entered the room with Mr. Captiosus behind him.

Balem's eyes took one moment to take in the scene. "Leave, both you. Do not come in unless you hear me expressly call for you." He commanded with a wave of his hand.

"Your majesty." the owl splice started. He stopped at the murderous glare that Balem sent his way. With a bow the two in question exited.

Balem waited a heartbeat after the door shut behind him before he focused on Amoya who was just standing there with the shard held in front of her. Already, he could see that the shard had cut her hand around where she held it tightly. He wondered if she was even aware of it. If she even felt the pain.

"Amoya?" Balem asked softly.

Amoya cocked her head, her eyes on him but not really seeing him.

"Put it down. I'm here." Balem coached.

His voice in Amoya's ears sounded a little less garbled, though she still eyed the space warily. "Who...who is it?" she asked.

"It's me, Balem."

Amoya cocked her head. Although she could not hear words, she felt a sense of comfort from this new presence, which made her hesitant to do anything.

"What are you waiting for?" her mirror image asked.

"It feels different. Okay. Like not threatening." Amoya answered.

Balem raised an eyebrow. Who was she talking to? He need to break this hallucination Amoya was having. He fought for calm, something he wasn't use to utilizing in large spans of time. He realized in this instance, a temper tantrum would get him nowhere. He fought the rising panic. He could panic later. Amoya needed him right now.

"That's what they want you to think! Soon as you drop your guard they will take you out. I think we shouldn't give them that chance."

Amoya glanced at her reflection in the broken shards on the vanity, "What do you mean?"

Balem's eyes narrowed as he tried to follow the one-way conversation. "Amoya..."

"End it."

"End it?"

"Yes, we can't go back there. You know it. I know it. End it."

Understanding rushed at Amoya, "You aren't talking about..."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about."

Balem's eyebrow furrowed. He tried again, "Amoya, listen to me. Whatever you hear, ignore it. Whatever it's telling you is not true."

He watched as Amoya seemed to pause once again looking at him but through him.

Amoya's eyes shifted down the shard in her hand.

"Yesss", her reflection drawled, sounding suspiciously like a snake at the moment, "It's not real. You know it's not real. He hasn't come has he? Your so-called husband hasn't come, has he? He broke his promise."

Amoya blinked hard at the tears that began to collect in her eyes. She couldn't seem to sort out the lies from the truth as they all melded together. She looked up and around, "No, he didn't." she murmured softly.

Even though Balem couldn't really follow the one-way conversation he knew well what she meant then. He took one step forward slowly and hoped his voice was calm, "Amoya. I'm here. I came when you called just like I promised."

He took another step, slowly. Could she hear him? He couldn't even hear himself, over the pounding of his own heart. He knew he spoke very softly as common practice but he hoped it was loud enough to reach her.

Amoya tilted her head at the garbled noise and a bout of warmth washed over her. Why did this garbled noise feel different than the first? Sounded slightly louder, yet soft and quiet at the same time.

"There is nothing there, Amoya", her reflection sighed, "Stop being so stubborn."

"But I heard..."

"Nothing but your imagination. Remember? It's not real." her reflection snapped. A pause and then her voice drawled, "However if you want to get out of this reality...there is one way to get out."

Amoya glanced at the shards, "How?"

"I already told you how."

"But that make no sense!" Amoya cried, "And such things aren't my style!"

Balem felt a cold shiver wash over him as the pieces of the one way conversation clicked in his head and he realized exactly what Amoya was alluding to.

He took a step forward and swallowed once, his choker feeling suspiciously restricting then, "Amoya...listen to me..."

"It's not about that, idiot!" her reflection snapped, "You wouldn't be doing that. You'd be get out of this reality. That's what matters!"

Amoya groaned and reached up a hand to her forehead.

"It's the only way to break this reality. To get out of here. Remember nothing here is real."

"Not real?" Amoya asked beginning to get confused all over again. She lifted her head. Balem saw her eyes searching for something. She will never know what prompted her but she raised her other hand and reached out. It was as if some distant part of her brain wanted to tested this reality.

Some part of her was aware enough to realize something was wrong with...all of this.

It was just figuring out what was wrong, was the challenge.

"Cut it out!" came the hiss.

Amoya flexed her fingers. Balem latched on to that action of hers and reached out his own hand to wrap around hers. "Amoya, come back. You promised you wouldn't leave me. You promised that you wouldn't go where I cannot follow. Not yet. I hold you to that."

"Cut it!" her reflection spoke, "If you give into that, it'll hurt you."

Amoya felt a warmth wrapping around her hand although she could not see anything. However, she fixed on this warmth as she spoke absently, "But it doesn't feel...bad."

"Of course not" Balem answered.

Slowly he reached down, keeping his own eyes trained on hers and tugged at the shard. Obviously that was the wrong thing to do, as quick as lightening he found said shard on his neck that was showing through his choker. He stilled but his eyes didn't leave hers that seemed to flood with panic the moment he went for the shard. His eyes dropped to her hand where she was clutching the shard hard, digging into her skin. He saw the blood pool out, dropping to the floor.

"Hate to say I told you so, but you know...I told you so", her reflection spoke.

He watched Amoya's eyes dart around looking for the source of a threat she could not see but could only feel.

Finally, Balem managed to find his voice despite his initial surprise, "Amoya, I know you won't kill me. Not after all we've been through to survive."

Here Balem paused before he continued speaking softly, "Plus, you still need me. You can't get rid of me now. You love me too much. Even still, this is against your nature. Didn't you said you wouldn't kill yourself? Killing me would be as good as killing yourself."

 _How do you managed to sound worried and condescending at the same time?_

 _It's a gift._

The garbled noise that pulsed in the former Earthling's ears, all of sudden reminded her of that conversation making it flashed though her head. A small laugh spill from her suddenly, as she lowered her eyes.

"Worried and condescending", she murmured shutting her eyes, "It sounds like him."

"Because it is me."

Suddenly the light seemed to come back on, making Amoya's eyes snap open. She raised her head and looked at Balem. He watched her eyes began to focus into his. She blinked as her eyes dropped down. It took a moment before a shocked cry passed her lips and she dropped the shard all at once aware of what she was doing.

 **TBC...**


	24. Ch 23: Worried and Condescending

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Hey, I know it's been awhile since I've updated this story. So good news or bad, depending on your point of view: There is only a handful of chapters until the end of this story. Part of the reason I've been slow is doing other things but a larger part was this story actually lengthen itself. Where I originally planned to end it, it wouldn't end. For instance this plot point we are on now about the hallucinations was never part of the original story. (Though I don't know about another else but I love this plot point) Now though it got to a point, I had to figure out how to end it. So that required some additionally thinking I did not plan on. However I got it all situated so now I know that there is only a handful of chapters. So without further ado, please enjoy!

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Chapter 23: Worried and Condescending

Balem let out a breath he didn't know he was holding as his hand unconsciously flew to this neck.

The skin was still smooth.

All the while his eyes didn't waver from Amoya's. Before she could distance herself from him, he roughly pulled her into his arms.

Amoya squirmed, tears flowing freely, trying to push him off but Balem held on.

"What have I done?" Amoya moaned, "What did I almost do?"

"But you didn't." Balem stated firmly.

"I almost killed you!" Amoya cried, "I'm not even me anymore!"

Balem roughly pulled her back enough to crash his lips on hers. Amoya tried in vain to turn her head but he reached a hand up and held her face ruthlessly. When the monarch ran out of oxygen, he pulled back, hazel eyes flashing, "Don't you ever say such a thing!" he hissed.

Full of guilt Amoya tried again to push him away. He caught both her forearms and gave her a shake, "Stop that!" he commanded harshly.

Amoya still but refused to look at him.

"Look at me." Balem ordered. He tried to captured her eyes but she kept moving her head from side to side, refusing his order.

"Woman, I will take you to task if you make me repeat myself."

"No less than I deserve." Amoya mumbled.

Balem felt his control snap then. The panic that he had pushed back came flooding forward. He roughly pulled her behind him towards the bedroom. Amoya tried to break his grip on her wrist but found it was in vain. In the span of seconds, Amoya found her back up against the wall and a lithe body pressed against hers.

Balem reached down with one hand and roughly tilted her chin, using the other to force her to look at him, resting on the back of her head. "Stubborn woman", he snapped as he once again captured her lips.

He poured all of his panicked energy into the kiss. Breaking the kiss, he began to plant kisses from her cheek to the base of her neck.

"Stop it", Amoya moaned reaching up to push at his chest.

"Why? This is your punishment." Balem's voice was husky between kisses.

"Please."

It was the broken quality in her voice that stilled Balem. Pulling back gingerly, he looked down at her. She had no choice to look at him as he still held her face. She shut her eyes as a result.

Balem was unaware of the harsh breath passing from his lips. Finally, at length he spoke, his voice a great deal calmer, "Don't hide from me."

Amoya shook her head once, "Please, let me go. I almost killed you. Who knows what will happen next time?" she begged.

"But you didn't."

But..."

"I deal in facts, Amoya. And the fact is that you didn't kill me."

"But what if..."

"What ifs, do not get results Amoya. You came back to me. You kept your promise, don't renegade on that now."

Her eyebrow furrowed despite her eyes being closed, "Again you sound worried and condescending at the same time."

"It's my specialty."

Amoya couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her. Balem was pleased to note that her body relaxed just slightly, even if she didn't realize it.

"You always make it about you." she murmured.

"It is about me."

Amoya couldn't help but crack her eyes open slightly, "Well, at least your honest about it."

"I can afford be."

Amoya opened her eyes wider to see his self-assured smirk. Her eyes dropped to his neck. Although he wore the choker, there was still enough room to slit his throat over it, if you got close enough.

She got close enough.

But even in her haze, how did she managed to find the right spot?

Balem watched as she began to close up on him again.

Amoya's brain was going fast.

What did it mean?

Why did she do that?

"Amoya."

His soft voice broke through her thoughts. "You are over thinking this."

Amoya ripped away from him and he let her go for the moment. She didn't look at him, "And you are under thinking it." she snapped, "Why didn't you move away? Or better yet, call the guards?"

"Because there is no telling what you would have done with others in the room. You only reacted so violently when I tried to take the shard from you. Up until then, you reacted to me better than the guard that tried to talk you down before I got here. If you had been rushed at, there is no telling what you would have done to yourself!" snapped Balem.

"So what!" Amoya cried looking at him then. Quickly she looked away and murmured, "At least you would be safe."

Balem's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to give a reply only to snap it shut. His roamed his hazel eyes over his wife, assessing.

"Fine." He finally said at length, "You want to be punished?"

Amoya curled in on herself. "It right thing."

"And your bleeding hand isn't enough of a punishment?" he asked mildly.

Amoya raised both hands to her face in response. She winced then, seeing the blood that was flowing freely, the pain finally registering in her brain.

Balem cocked his head, "You didn't even realized it, did you?"

Amoya sat down on the bed hard, still staring at her hands, "No."

"And that's not enough punishment?"

"It's not punishment at all."

Balem's eye twitched, his lips pressed into a thin line. For the umpteenth time he asked himself, why was his wife so bloody stubborn.

A heavy silence permeated the room for a long while.

"Fine. I will have someone come and clean it up. Then you will receive your... _punishment_." Balem sneered before turning around and stalking out of the room.

And Amoya just sat staring at the blood dripping off her hand.

* * *

Amoya Abrasax squirmed as she sat on the edge of the bed. Her hand had been bandaged but right now that wasn't what was making her uncomfortable. Amoya found it odd that after her hand was bandaged that a box arrived.

Even odder was what was inside.

Inside was a lacy bathing suit type lingerie with a note (on paper-that stunned Amoya for a few seconds) saying she was to put this on and sit on the bed.

It has been about ten minutes she's been waiting and feeling embarrassed about her attire. This really wasn't her style at all.

She didn't realize that it was Balem's. She'd question where he got it from so soon but for a man that had the entire universe at his command commandeering a piece of lingerie didn't require much thought, she'd reckon.

Suddenly a shadow entered the room, breaking the former Earthling's thought and making her look up. Balem stood in the doorway wearing only black pants and his choker. His hazel eyes took in the sight.

Amoya blushed and ducked her head, "What is this?" she asked pulling at the lingerie.

"Silence woman, I expect to be addressed by my proper title. It's your majesty. Learn it."

Amoya bristled once and shifted, "What is this...your majesty...?" she ground out looking down at it.

She missed the smirk that flashed on Balem's face before he schooled his expression and walked languidly towards her. She didn't look at him, but saw when his feet stopped before her. The elder Abrasax gazed down at her.

"Look at me." came the command.

Amoya glanced up at him once.

"Amoya Abrasax, you are formally notified that you are hereby on punishment."

"What is this...court?" said woman asked with a snort.

"Yes it is. My court." Balem answered and continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted, "The first thing...you will address me as your majesty. The second, you are to obey my orders. Now, I won't repeat myself."

It took a moment but Amoya looked up at him. "What are you doing?" she asked softly, her eyes becoming unfocused.

Balem leaned down over her, placing his hands on either side of her on the bed. Such an action forced Amoya to lean back.

"The third thing...don't talk unless I say. I know that such a concept is difficult for you to grasp."

Balem was pleased to see a familiar flash in depth of Amoya's eyes as her jaw went ridged. But quick as it flashed, she deflated and kept quiet. Balem allowed the disappointment that she kept quiet show in his eyes.

Amoya swallowed all of a sudden aware of what he was doing. She opened her mouth only to have Balem raised a finger to her lips. "What part of, no talking did you not understand?" he asked absently.

"The part where I'm wearing this ridiculous outfit", Amoya couldn't help but to say, even as his finger was her lips.

Balem frowned, "But you wanted to be punished. Surely you didn't expect I'd go for traditional methods, did you? You are my wife and Queen and an Entitled."

Balem drew his hand back surprised when Amoya darted out her tongue and licked the side of his finger. His eyes became hooded, as his shock wore off and look back at her who was glaring, "Balem Abrasax, I am not in the mood."

"Oh..." Balem drawled a slow coming smirk gracing his face, "I promise you will be when I get done with you."

Amoya swallowed and looked away, "You like to play too much."

"I found I've become fond of playing since you've come around." Balem glowered then, "I don't repeat myself, woman."

Amoya had to think on that a moment before she managed to look back at him in response.

"Good, now. Take off my choker."

The blood drained from Amoya's face and she even went so far as to try to turn away. Balem lifted up and clamped his hands on her shoulder to stop her from moving.

Looking down at her he stated, "I gave an order."

Amoya had her head down as she struggled not to cry, "Why are you doing this?"

"You're on punishment remember? You wanted to be punished." came the answer.

"Yes but..."

"Amoya Abrasax..."

Amoya risked a peek up at him and saw that although he was looking down at her sternly, there was laughter in his eyes. She ducked her eyes once again.

Why was he insisting on this?

She knew if it had been anyone else, they would be in jail in on his good days and dead by now on his bad.

Did she really expect him to go for either of those traditional methods?

Truth be told, she did.

There was a part of her that expected him to and she was having a hard time accepting that he wasn't going to do it. Maybe because she never had anyone stand by her like this.

Even after 11 years of marriage, she was loathed to admit that there was a part of her that still expected one day to be tossed aside after she fulfilled her purpose or when he tired of her.

Whichever came first.

But these hallucinations were preying on her deepest fears that she didn't even know she had, much less admit to herself.

But now that they were there in all its clarity she found she was a bit of a lost as to what to do about it or what she was suppose to feel.

Or where to go from here.

"I haven't all day, Amoya."

Her husband's voice snapped her out of her reverie. Without really looking at him, she managed to stand, making him drop his hands. It took a moment before, Amoya reached up to take the choker off. Halfway to the choker she found her hands shaking, as the earlier memory of she almost did popped in her head.

She went to lower her hand but found a pair guiding her own back to the snap in the back.

"Look at me."

Amoya looked at him then and was taken aback by the fierce look in Balem's eyes. Together they took the choker off. Balem released his choker in her hand.

"It wasn't your fault, do you understand?" Balem's voice was soft yet firm.

Amoya stirred once and went to give the choker to Balem only he held up his hand forcing it to remain firmly in hers. "It wasn't." he continued, "You were in the firm grip of a hallucination. If it wasn't that, it would have been something else."

Amoya blinked once.

She hadn't really thought about that.

The hallucinations seem to prey on the darkest fears that the person had. In her case, the fear of being abandoned. She thought that she had dealt with that, but apparently it was still there.

Balem saw the gears turning in Amoya's head. He wondered what she was thinking about, how she was rationalizing this.

"What is it? What did I say?" he asked softly.

"It would have been something else." came the soft answer after a moment.

Balem cocked his head and picked his choker out of his wife's hand and sat it on the nearby dresser while saying, "Perhaps you need to start from the beginning. Tell me about this hallucination you had."

Amoya flexed her fingers once before sitting back down the bed. Silence drifted for a long time and Amoya made no move to answer. In fact her eyes was far away as she had turned inward.

Balem sighed once, "Very well then."

Suddenly Amoya found herself lying on her back, Balem pinning her wrists down. She looked up at him shocked and very aware of the fact that her attire was not keeping everything in place. She flushed once.

Her voice wavered, "This isn't fair, Balem."

"All's fair in...well, I'm sure you've heard such clichés so I have no need to repeat them."

Amoya sighed once, "Alright just let me..." She tried to move, yet Balem didn't release her.

Balem cocked his head and stared at her intently, "No. I quite enjoy the view."

"You're bargaining skills are ruthless", Amoya complained.

The elder Abrasax's mouth twitched as he heard a bit of the old Amoya, "Indeed they are and they have served me well."

Amoya glowered, "You are getting way too much enjoyment out of this."

"Yes, I am." His voice become serious, "Now, tell me what happened and I might consider allowing you to compose your modesty."

"Ruthless tyrant." snapped Amoya her eyebrow twitching once.

"Thank you."

"Of course you would thank someone for that." She wiggled her wrists and gave an exasperated sigh, "You don't have to take this much pleasure in this you know."

"But I do...as do you."

Amoya looked away from his eyes once before looking back. "I plead the fifth."

The first primary raised an eyebrow, "A. We are not on Earth and B. By pleading the fifth you are basically admitting it, so it's moot point."

The former Earthling's eye twitched once again. How the devil did this man manage to pick apart everything? Balem held back his smile, although he felt a ripple of relief pour through him after their little...debate.

Amoya sighed and closed her eyes opting for silence.

"You said you'd tell me if anything happened. You're not reengaging on your promise are you?"

Amoya's eyes tighten at the sound from Balem's voice that she hated most. She had heard that vulnerable quality a bit too much over the past while, "Balem..."

"Are you?"

Opening her eyes, for the first time in the last several hours she willing met Balem's gaze. He wore that faraway look that Amoya hated as well as he waited for a response.

"Please don't." she begged.

"Are you?" Balem asked a bit more forcefully, his eyes searching hers.

Amoya turned her head looking off, "I don't know if I can do this." she murmured.

Balem's eye flashed, "You will do this, because this is who you are. You don't run, you fight. You fought to do this insane thing now you will fight not let it over take you."

Balem was pleased that Amoya actively turned her head to glare at him although his eyes narrowed as he glared back. Amoya twisted her wrist in his hands finding that they didn't move. They went back to glaring at each other before a sigh spilled from Amoya as her eyes drifted down.

The silence was heavy before:

"The light went out."

Balem cocked his head, "The light?"

It was a moment before she continued, eyes closed, her voice soft, "It came from nowhere, the feeling of wondering it was real. I remembered you were in a meeting. I told myself, you were in a meeting and everything was fine. And it was...until the light went out. I was in the sitting room and the light went out. I thought it was a technical problem until I couldn't find the door. And then..."

Balem released her a little then, using one hand to gently graze her cheek, making her eyes flutter, "And then?" he prompted.

She swallowed, "I don't know. The door had disappeared and it was all wall and my reflection in the mirror starting talking and then it just went downhill from there. I couldn't get out, but I remember calling for you but I couldn't see anything and.."

Amoya opened her eyes and shrugged helplessly.

"Something triggered and brought you back. What was it?"

"I'm...not sure. Everything sounded so garbled when I'm assuming anyone talked. But your garble wasn't so bad. It felt okay."

"Naturally."

Amoya's eyes focused on him then and she gave a small smile. "See that right there. I don't know what you said, but whatever it was, sounded so...you, you know?"

Balem blinked confused, "Explain."

Amoya gave a chuckle and focused on the ceiling, "You sounded...worried and condescending. And that snapped the hallucination for me."

Balem cocked his head and thought back. Amoya looked at him when he began to nod absently. Soft hands on his neck brought him back and his eyes dropped to the woman below him. That pinch look was creeping into her eyes once again.

"I'm sorry." her voice hitched.

"Don't you start again. I told you, it wasn't your fault."

"Still!"

"Ssssh! I'm not going through this again with you. You are still on punishment, therefore you must obey my orders. I'm giving you a long standing one. You will cease berating yourself about this."

Amoya glared at him and pushed him off. Balem allowed himself to be moved. He sat next to her on the edge of the bed. Amoya turned to face him. Their eyes never left one another as they had a glaring match.

"You don't..." Amoya's face suddenly flushed.

Balem's mouth twitched as Amoya quickly broke the glare match to situate her outfit all the while muttering. Amusement flashed in Balem's eyes as he watched. By the time she looked up with her glare, his face was schooled into his usual look, with a bit more heat for the situation.

"You don't understand. If I have another one these hallucinations, what then? We got lucky this time. I'm too dangerous to be around."

"So what do you suggest?"

Amoya opened her mouth and then closed it. Finally she answered, "Lock me up."

Balem's nose flared once, "Amoya. I am not going to lock you up. That is counter-productive and would not help the situation."

"But you'd be safe."

"Will you worry about you for once? You are an Entitled. Be a little bit more selfish, at least in regard to your own welfare."

"Well, what's your brilliant plan? I hope it's better than your choice for lingerie." retorted Amoya.

Balem's eyes raked over her once and drawled, "My choice was perfect as usual."

Amoya threw her hand up, "And you call me stubborn! You don't even know how to stop these hallucinations do you? The other person just off-ed themselves. What if there isn't any way out of this?"

"There is always a way", answered Balem with a calm he didn't feel.

"Like?"

Balem looked at her a long moment.

"Well?"

Balem waved an hand, "You will have to master these... hallucinations."

Amoya gave him an incredulously laugh, "What? You've got to be joking!"

Balem raised an eyebrow.

Amoya opened her mouth to say something only to flopped back down on her back with a loud sigh. She covered her eyes with the back of her hands. Balem sat still for a moment before slowly laying down on his back. He stared at the ceiling a long moment before turning on his side to face his wife.

"There can be no other option for us." he murmured.

"I suppose...that makes sense in the grand scheme of things."

"Meaning?"

"I think it occurred to me what these hallucinations do to people."

Balem's eyes widen, "You do?"

Amoya lowered her hand and looked at him, "I think they prey on your darkest fears."

Balem blinked a few times before murmuring, "Why didn't we figure that out before?"

"Probably because the other person didn't come out of their hallucination before they..." here Amoya trailed off.

Balem looked pinched at the implication. A soft touch on his cheek snapped him out of it.

"That's not my style. I told you not to worry."

The elder Abrasax eye's blinked rapidly in memory, "But you almost did."

Amoya looked confused.

"You don't remember everything do you?"

The former Earthling gave a small shrug, "Not really."

"I think based on your one-way conversation, something was urging you to "end it"..." Balem's voice trailed at the end as he watched Amoya closely.

Amoya blinked. "I did?"

"You seriously don't remember?"

Amoya reached a hand up to her head, "Honestly most of the details are jumbled."

After a moment, she lowered her hand and look at him who was studying her closely. She gave a lopsided smile, "Didn't you say that you don't deal in what ifs but what is. I didn't so..."

Balem stared at her a long moment before his mouth twitched once in response but otherwise didn't say anything.

Amoya gave a small sigh and asked quietly, "You really think we can beat this?"

Balem's eyes narrowed, "Yes. I won't settle for anything else. And besides..." here his mouth quirked upward, "If you want alternative Regenex to work out, that will be something you have to stick around to do."

Amoya gave a small chuckle, "Sure add that pressure."

"Well, you are the only one in the entire universe that can get it done."

Balem was pleased Amoya glare at him, "Like I said, add that pressure."

"Whatever works. It's incentive if nothing else." came the unapologetic voice.

A small smile quirked at Amoya's mouth, "Your crazy behind actually believes I can do this."

"Of course you can. You married me."

"Your preening is extraordinarily loud today."

Balem gave a her smirk, "Well, you got that right. You'll get this right too."

"Why did I marry this thing?" Amoya asked the air.

She found herself staring into hazel eyes above her. "You know why. You love me."

"You're preening again."

"Amoya."

"Yes."

"Shut up and get out of his ridiculous outfit."

"You're the one that brought this ridiculous outfit."

Balem crinkled his nose, "Yes, well it had two uses, the first of which it did what it was intended to do."

Amoya hummed once before asking, "And what's the second?"

"Ease and speed of its removal."

Amoya blushed.

 **TBC...**


	25. Ch 24: Into the Future

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

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Chapter 24: Into the Future

Balem never hated Ores as much as he did these past six months.

If he had his way he would never return in his lifetime.

Lifetimes, actually.

It took roughly six months until the court case was settled. It was probably the longest six months of Balem's life. The first week or so, Amoya was in awe of the place which Balem was pleased to note. He would take anything other than the faraway look in her eyes that crept up from time to time. If Ores occupied her with curiosity, he found he could not complain about that.

Balem watched Amoya carefully during those times. Granted in the last six months, she didn't have a full blown hallucination like that day. Perhaps it was because most of the time the couple was together on Ores and was rarely separated for extended amounts of time. He knew that Amoya would never admit that she felt more settled when he was in the general area. The rare times that he had to leave her for a bit, the relief that she felt upon seeing him again was palpable.

But neither never pointed it out.

They just accepted it as a new fact of life.

After about the first week or so, even Ores began to get on Amoya's nerves. It was so crowded once they walked out their apartment they lived in for the time being. Balem didn't do well with crowds and found that neither did Amoya. Not to mention all the waiting. Balem was convinced, their court case could have been settled in half the time, but part of bureaucracy was all the paper pushing, which equated to waiting. Here on Ores, everyone had to wait. From the Entitles to the Splices, everyone was subject to waiting.

But once the trial actually started which was about a couple of weeks later, he found that at times he would have welcomed waiting around for it to start. One thing about the bureaucracy, they could be tedious when they wanted to be. The first week of time was spent on telling them exactly what the trial was going to be about it and who all the witnesses were and what their roles were.

The first primary found regret to be a baseless emotion, a time killer. So he regretted few things in his life and allowing Amoya to go through with becoming a neuro-camera made the list for him, despite the fact that everything went better than even they planned. In addition, Balem never thought it was possible to hate his brother and Ajay Camou even more, but the day that Amoya took the witness stand proved that. The regret and hate that Balem felt was at it's all time high during that week.

They grilled Amoya about every little detail of her life. How her former Earthling life had anything to do with now, Balem would never know. But he drew the line when the Ajay's and Titus' lawyers started questioning their personal life. It didn't help that Amoya was hooked to what was the equivalent of a lie detector test, only this one was far more invasive and truthful than the one on earth. It could even detect things in your subconscious.

Some of the questions asked, Amoya had answered truthfully to the best of her conscious knowledge, only her subconscious said differently. And of course the lawyers preyed and exploited that. Balem could see Amoya reverting back inside herself just as when she had the hallucination. He knew that some of their questions was preying on some of her deepest fears that made her hallucinate in the first place. Although they never really discussed what those feeling where exactly, it didn't take long for Balem to figure it out on his own. She knew that she still harbored regret about that day and it didn't help to be reminded of it in the even the slightest.

Balem knew that their lawyers was trying to prove that Amoya was too incompetent and that her whole testimony should be discarded. It was the only card they had left to play but it didn't make him feel any better about the situation. Especially, when it was making his wife distance herself from him again.

Even now as the trial was over and they were on their way home, back to Jupiter, did it still make him angry to think about it.

"You're face will stay that way if you keep it up. In fact I'm surprised that your face hasn't frozen by now."

Balem blinked, the voice bringing him out of his trip down memory lane. His eyes focused on Amoya sitting across from him.

She cocked her head, "What's wrong now?"

Balem didn't answer as Amoya added, "You're tense, you know that right?"

In response, Balem released the death like grip he had on the arm rest and relaxed his shoulders. He exhaled once softly, trying to calm himself.

Amoya looked slightly amused, "What were you thinking about? You look liked you were about to pop a cork."

Balem gave a small sigh and took a few breaths before answering quietly, "The trial..." He looked up at Amoya, "...specifically your time as a witness."

He saw Amoya faltered a moment before giving a weak smile, "I think we all want to forget that." Amoya didn't like to remember that time either. She wasn't at her best and she hated how they managed to play with her head the way they did. And she hated herself for falling for it so easily.

"Stop."

Amoya blinked at Balem's hard voice that broke and effectively halted her thoughts. She gave a small chuckle and raised a hand to rake through her hair. Standing she walked to the window and absently looked out, watching space go by. Balem eyed her in silence.

"How long until we are home?" she asked breaking the silence after a few moments.

"We'll be there in a few hours."

He could see Amoya lean her head on the cool glass, "Oh I see." she murmured absently.

"What is it?" he asked.

When Amoya didn't say anything he frowned before standing up and walking over to her side. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She jumped once before looking at him. Scrunching her face she asked, "What?"

"Something is clearly on your mind." stated Balem with a stern voice.

Amoya let out a small huff. "I'm fine."

Balem's mouth thinned. "I'm not going through this with you again, Amoya."

Amoya turned and glared at him. Unfazed he held her gaze. She was the first the look away but not before Balem could see the guilt that flashed in her eyes. Wordlessly he grasped her chin and turned her gaze back to him, before lifting an eyebrow.

Amoya gave a small laugh and pushed his hand away. "You just don't give up do you?"

Balem only cocked his head and looked at her steadily.

Amoya looked back out the window. "Just...when's the last time you've been on a vacation?"

Balem blinked. Hard.

"Excuse me?" he whispered after a moment.

"A vacation..." Dark eyes swung to him and looked amused, "You do know what a vacation is don't you?"

"Don't get mouthy with me, wife." The first primary snapped before reaching out and touching her cheek, "Why do you ask such a thing?" he asked quietly.

"Must there be an hidden agenda? Just answer the bloody question, " Amoya griped, her eyes sliding back towards the window.

Balem stared down at her a long moment before a slow smirk formed on his face. "If you wanted to go a vacation, all you had to do was say so."

"I didn't..."

"It's obvious the only reason you are bringing it up is because you are fishing. You are an Entitled. If you want to do something, simply say so." Balem dropped his fingers and straightened.

Amoya gave a longsuffering sigh, "I don't even have the wherewithal to explain the problem with that statement. Plus we've been gone long enough and I know we need to start looking for Dr. Ahiga and..."

"Amoya..."

The sternest in Balem's voice stopped Amoya. She pursued her lips and looked out the window again.

Then she gave an ungraceful shrug, "I don't know...I just...thought maybe a week or two with just the two of us would be nice." A small smile played on her face that she was unaware of, "Someplace quiet. Cabin in the woods or near a beach or waterfall. A small piece of time to..." she shrugged again the smile disappearing. "I know we have responsibilities. I'm good." She= straightened and gave a firm nod.

Silence followed for a long moment before Amoya found herself wrapped in an embrace. She blinked.

"Silly girl", came an soft exasperated voice, "Even now, as tired as you are and as much as you've been through you still think of everyone else before yourself. You are right. I did not think of it. A vacation would be good for you. For us."

Amoya pulled her husband back enough to look at his face, "Like I said, we still have things to do..."

Balem rolled his eyes once and placed a hand over her mouth. "Hush, woman. You are getting on my nerves."

Amoya made a small huffing sound but said nothing.

"As I said, you are entitled to a vacation of all things." He continued with a small chuckle at the glare Amoya was giving him. He pulled his hands back and straightened as he glared down at her, "I will hear no more. We will go on your vacation. Do you have anywhere in mind?"

Amoya looked sheepish then, "Not really. Just somewhere quiet with nature and I'm good."

Balem gazed down at her a long moment before turning and walking out the room. Amoya cocked her head.

* * *

Balem knew it was worth it the moment he saw Amoya eyes lit up as she walked around the large cabin. He hadn't seen this such excitement enter her eyes in a long time.

It was worth suffering the rustic look of the place. The outside looked like a wooden cabin that you would see on Earth but inside it had all the modern contraptions an Entitled would be used to. Their cabin was on a hill near a river with a beautiful waterfall.

This place wasn't Balem's style and he had never been to this planet. It was located in the 2nd level galaxy. The whole planet was a resort place. When he asked about the style of vacation he wanted , this place came highly recommended.

Seems he won't have to kill anyone for giving him stupid information.

Good for them.

Balem stood in the middle of large spacious living room. He could hear Amoya flitting around the cabin. Occasionally he could hear her exclamations. Standing lazily he looked out the window. He was startled out of his thoughts when he felt two arms thrown around him. Relaxing he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Did I tell you how much I love you lately?" Amoya asked.

Balem slowly turned his head and looked at her shining face. He smirked. "Not necessarily. Though I'd prefer actions to words."

A flirty look that Balem had come to miss from Amoya in the last year entered her eyes, after a moment of contemplation. "Actions? Such as..." she mused trailing off.

Balem lifted an elegant eyebrow his hazel eyes boring into hers steadily.

"Ahhhh, that action. Hm." she looked off and Balem was pleased to notice a bit of heat in her cheeks.

There was a moment of silence before: "I'd rather check out the river and waterfall."

Balem blinked a few times, "Excuse you?" he whispered.

Amoya giggled, "Look if I let you get started we won't even set foot outside this place for a week at least."

Balem smirked, "That is very true but..."

Amoya reached up and made him lean over a little so she whispered in his ear, "It'll make it worth your while."

Still leaning over, Balem turned his face to her. Inches apart he breathed, "How so?"

"It would involved the waterfall that we saw."

Balem blinked a few times until it finally clicked and he straightened, "That's acceptable."

Laughing Amoya pulled back, "I'd knew you'd see it my way." Clapping her hands, she turned and headed for the kitchen, "I'm getting hungry. I don't know about you. But I'd thought I'd try to cook something."

Balem sniffed, "We can have our food catered here you know. That is one of the perks."

Amoya stopped and threw a withering look over her shoulder, "Darling, we are on vacation and even if I haven't done it in awhile, I can cook."

Balem looked skeptical.

She turned around and placed her hands on her hips, "Tell you what. If my food taste that bad, we'll cater it, okay?"

"Alright."

Balem was amused that Amoya hopped once and gave a clap, "Yay! Now to figure out what to cook."

Balem watched curiously as she stood and thought for a minute before clapping her hands again and rushing into the kitchen. He slowly followed and took a seat at the counter watching her bustle about.

A small smile graced his face to see her so happy with doing something so mundane.

Yes, two weeks in this place wouldn't be bad at all.

 **TBC...**


	26. Epilogue Part I: And So it Was

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

 **A.N:** Well, we have arrived people. Part one of the Epilogue for this story. Please enjoy!

* * *

Epilogue Part I: And So it Was

Looking back Balem found that their vacation was something, although he never would have thought of or have done on his own, he would definitely arrange it again. He could see that their two weeks helped his wife settled down. And he found that he enjoyed just being with his wife for two weeks, with no one else around. It gave them time to just be.

But eventually, they were traveling back to Jupiter. Naveen and Dalila were unexpected guests coming back with them. During their time on Ores, Balem had slowly began to get use to the two, mostly because he saw the stars in their eyes when it came to his wife. And he knew that Amoya valued them greatly and wasn't going to let them go without a fight.

Technically they were supposed to be deactivated, the humane way of saying put to death, since they were illegal creations anyway. Balem personally wouldn't have cared if they were put to death but he knew it would have caused Amoya grief. He only hoped that they cared for her as much as he could see so far because if they betrayed Amoya in any way, he would kill them himself.

However they still ended up with a punishment. They were both forced to wear metal collars. The collars had been designed so that they cannot stream or shape shift with them on. If they tried, they would be electrocuted not enough to kill them but they would feel excruciating pain. Also they were on probation for five years and the collar also tracked their whereabouts. Amoya hated the fact that they had to wear collars like a dog but neither one minded.

Everyone knew they were getting off lightly in comparison to the rest of their kin who were eventually deactivated. In addition to helping with court case and Amoya's favor, it was also discovered that they were in fact part human. They had been stolen from their homeland by the Camou corporation to be turned into chameleon splices. They were always told they were created in their laboratory. They thought it meant from scratch but that was not true.

However, the Thirties and Forties were created from scratch. Apparently the first several batches of tests involved taking humans and splicing them with chameleon genes but that was a failure because they still retained their human will. That was why Dalila and Naveen had some human emotions. The doctors that worked on them couldn't completely erase their human side.

Also returning with them was Mr. Night. Apparently as it was discovered the victims of streaming, was actually awake during their coma. They could feel and sometimes see what their chameleon splice was doing when they were being streamed. It wasn't a pleasant experience and Mr. Night didn't care to talk about it too much.

He seemed more subdued those days, though all his tests came back with good reviews. He felt guilty for being a victim of the chameleon splices and wanted to resign his post but Amoya wasn't have any of that. She didn't want the Camou Corporation to win anymore then strictly necessary. Balem simply said that he didn't want to go through filling his position after Mr. Night has had it all these years. It was discovered that when Mr. Night had to go off world on a business run, all those months ago, that was when the exchanged happened.

Speaking of Camou Corporation, forget being put out of business by the end of the century, practically a week after Titus was arrested, the corporation fell to pieces. Then Ajay Camou was finally arrested and that just completely dissolved the corporation right there. Many of the board members took their share and ran so that they were not accessories to all that had happened.

Balem, and Amoya even less, was not thrilled to have to see Ajay Camou in court or even Titus Abrasax. At first Amoya wondered if Titus Abrasax, even realized the trouble he was in and what he was facing. He acted as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. He seemed confident that he wouldn't be facing the death penalty.

Kalique Abrasax attended the trial and was brought to testify about the day of Titus' arrest.

Ajay Camou on the other hand, seemed very aware of exactly how much trouble he was in, especially since Amoya's time being a neuro-camera was allowed as evidence.

Matter of fact, that was the key evidence right there.

Amoya almost felt sorry for how jittery Ajay Camou was during those days.

Almost.

However after the trial concluded and the list of charges were read for both Titus and Ajay, it was then that everything seemed to click for Titus. Especially after the judge intoned that they were both up for the death penalty.

Now Amoya didn't believe in the death penalty, even on Earth but she couldn't bring herself to intervene for the two of them. They made their choices, they were going to have to suffer the consequences. That and Balem was adamant that they were going to get the death penalty even if he had to see to it himself. Amoya remembered when she drop hints on wondering if this was the right course of action.

The result: it set Balem off.

He went from everything she went through, and everything he went through because of what she went through because of them.

Needless to say by the time he was done (flushed in the face and slightly wild eyed at the thought), Amoya never brought it up again.

Although she hoped that Titus' wide-eyed gaze wouldn't haunt her, nor his words as he begged and pleaded for her to help him, his dignity long gone. However, while Titus was begging, Ajay was practically cursing her and Balem out for his fate.

That was the worse day for Amoya and she couldn't help but to cry after they got back to their rooms. In fact, she managed to hold it together until they got to their rooms and that was a miracle of itself.

But after the court case had settled, their vacation was over and things began to get back to normal, both Balem and Amoya began to turn their sights on more important matters.

First they sent an advocate to find Dr. Ahiga. They sent the person in secret. Mostly because it would less headache at that moment, than explaining publically that the Abrasax Corporation was going to go through a change.

It took roughly a year for their advocate to even get a whiff. Apparently Dr. Ahiga didn't trust anyone and was constantly moving. The advocate tried to make contact but failed to do so and after a certain point couldn't get any further. Balem knew that Dr. Ahiga would be wary of anyone for the Abrasax Corporation trying to contact him.

So, after much debate, Amoya sent Naveen and Dalila to make contact with the Dr. Ahiga. They were allowed to take off the collar and shift, but only if they needed to and not to hurt the one they were shifting into. For Balem, this was trusting them quite a bit, but both were eager not to fail the one that saved them.

This proved fruitful for barely three months later they managed to talk with the Dr. Ahiga. Well, not the doctor per say but his public face assistant, if you will. Which was good, since that was the closest they got so far. Then it took another month after that for the two to convince the doctor to meet with Queen Amoya.

Dr. Ahiga decided that he would meet the Queen since he's been hearing a lot of good things, but he didn't want Balem anywhere near him. In fact the doctor was so paranoid, he wouldn't let them know the meeting place until they were halfway there.

Balem liked to have a fit at this idea and it took a week for Balem to allow it.

After Amoya managed to meet with the doctor, everything else snowballed from there. began to warm up to Amoya and took a liking to her. He wasn't thrilled about Balem and until the last day, the two was forever uncomfortable in the other's presence.

It was discovered that Lady Seraphi was right, Dr. Ahiga actually had a basic prototype of an Alternative Regenex going. He had a number of backers around the galaxy and a support group. Like Amoya, he wasn't thrilled with using the current Regenex but like Amoya he continued to use Regenex to fix Regenex. He could pass on his knowledge to an heir if you will, but it wouldn't ever been the same and he wanted to make sure it was done right. But he did train an assistant in secret in Alternative Regenex just in case something happened to him.

The actual progress of making a functional Alternative Regenex to market took many years. Eventually Alternative Regenex would be known by its shorter name AlterRegenex.

The final look of AlterRegenex would come to use a person's own DNA plus DNA from others to lengthen one's life. In the future, people would be able to donate DNA to a DNA bank to use. This would negate the use of killing humans for their DNA.

And that was a whole progress to gather support for.

Many people liked the idea, especially the part about not killing whole planets, but they didn't trust the Abrasax Corporation for the things they had already done. It took a lot of effort on Amoya's part to began to gain the people's trust. She never thought she would give public speeches like a politician but she did.

(Though she hated them with an undying passion.)

Amoya Abrasax had many haters, mostly Entitles that were still okay with maintaining the status quo. However there was a few who had an Enlightenment like Lady Seraphi and had already began to quietly supporting Dr. Ahiga even before he joined with Amoya and ultimately Abrasax Corporation. Jarlath Kevan of the House of Kevan was one such Entitled who had his own Enlightenment.

Dr. Ahiga had studied Lord Kevan and found that in using Regenex the old way, stemmed the mind, making it not grow up properly. So an Entitled who took Regenex for millennia might be a certain age physically but in mind they would be much younger. So when they in effect "gained some sense"... well, we know the story of Lady Seraphi and how that worked out. Jarlath was one of few that was able to use his Enlightenment for good and not have it end up destroying him.

At least now Amoya knew why many Entitles acted like a child. It was in part because of Regenex. It messed with the mind.

The only downside with AlterRegenex is that it didn't last as long as the old Regenex and you would have to use it more frequently. Eventually the old Regenex would come to be called RegenexZero.

However, AlterRenegex ended up making Abrasax Corporation more money in the long run.

Because AlterRegenex was cheaper to produce, the cost was lower allowing people who couldn't afford RegenexZero, to buy AlterRegenx. This lead to AlterRegenex begin brought at least three times more (according the numbers) than RegenexZero.

Win-win for everybody.

But there were those who still wanted the system that RegenexZero provided. More of a caste system. With AlterRegenex, it balanced out the universe in a way that RegenexZero never did.

Or could for that matter.

 **TBC...**


	27. Epilogue Part II: Generation Next

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Balem or the Jupiter Ascending universe (though I wouldn't mind owning Balem =D) but I do own Amoya whatever other characters that are in existence for this story.

* * *

Epilogue Part II: Generation Next

A tall man entered the dining room dressed elaborately with a purple color scheme. His short curly brown hair framed his face and his long bangs fell into his hazel eyes. Entering the dining room he spotted a woman and another man already sitting at the long table, both equally dressed as he.

They looked up as he entered. Grinning he gave a short wave, "Liam! Isis! How are my fine siblings on this glorious day?!" he chirped.

Liam inclined his head with a small smile but otherwise said nothing. Isis chuckled once, "Brother, good morning. It's about time you graced us with your presence. I thought you were going to sleep all day."

The man gave a broad grin, "Ahh, and deprive you of my company? That would be crime, don't you think?" He asked with a laugh taking a seat.

Liam's dark eyes turned to the man with a small smile and said softly, "No Aman, that would have been a favor for us."

Aman placed a hand over his heart, "You wound me, brother! Now, what is on the menu today?" He asked clapping his hands and gazing over the table of food.

Liam rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his food as Isis looked at the door. Aman began to load his plate with food.

"Have you seen mother or father?" Isis asked, her dark eyes lingering on the door.

Aman stopped eating long enough to look around the room. "They haven't arrived yet?"

"Do you see them here yet?" Liam asked softly.

Aman made a face at his younger brother.

Liam added, "Usually they would have arrived for breakfast by now, but they haven't showed." He gave a small grin Aman's way, "You brother, was in fact early, for once."

In response Aman tossed a piece of toast Liam's way.

Aman Abrasax.

Liam Abrasax.

Isis Abrasax.

The children for Amoya and Balem Abrasax.

Aman was the oldest. He inherited his curly hair from his mother along with her golden skin. His hazel eyes were clearly his father's. His brown hair was much like his late uncle Titus Abrasax. As he grew, he became very tall. Taller than his father actually and had broad shoulders. He was a bit on the stocky side.

He was a bit of a clown, always joking and smiling. His grin could be spotted a mile away. His mouth was an exact replica of his father's with his mother's nose. One of the things that Aman was serious about was his family and friends. He was a bit overprotective of them to say the least.

Unfortunately much to his father's chagrin at one point, he clearly inherited his mother's inability to understand business past the basics. When he was a child before his siblings were born, his father was trying to train him to learn about the family business, but Aman proved that he had no head for it. Either he got really confused at some point, or most likely he became extremely bored.

There was that one time, when he was a young teenager, that he fell asleep, with his eyes open, while his father was trying to explain the concept of... something. To this day Aman didn't know what that was. It took his mother a good hour to settle his father's down from this tirade.

Where Aman failed at business, he succeeded when it came to science. He was sharper than he came off to be. With his slightly rambunctious personality he was always getting into trouble yet when it came to science and math he was as focused as the average person. Aman was always asking questions as a child and developed an interest even in astrology.

Liam Abrasax was the middle child. If there was one that took after Balem most, it was him. Unfortunately he inherited his mother's short height but was as slender as his father. He had black hair, not quite as black as Balem's, that he kept in a similar style as his father. His brown eyes were his mother's. He even wore similar clothing styles as his father. His skin tone wasn't as golden-brown as Amoya's but it wasn't as pale as Balem's either. He also had light freckles.

Where Aman was outgoing, Liam took on their father's more reserved nature. And where Aman failed spectacularly at business, Liam succeeded at it. So much in fact, that he was a bit of a child prodigy when it came to business. Aman was secretly happy when Liam started displaying an interest (and understanding) of the business world. Because of that, their father started focusing on training Liam in the business aspect and Aman was able to slip away to focus on the science aspect.

To this day, Aman still thanked Liam for diverting attention away from him because he knew that his father was growing impatient with his lack of ability to understand business. Still though he was forced to learn at least basics which it took a long time for Aman to see the value of.

Balem was always surprised at Liam's quick grasp of business and sharp wit and eyes. Where Aman might of rushed into things (which Balem was forever trying to get him to think longer than five seconds), Liam analyzed and approached with caution.

Sometimes, Liam thought too much and it was up to Aman to take them over the cliff as it were.

Isis Abrasax was the youngest child. If there was one child that called themselves reaching back a generation it would her. Since Amoya saw her mother once, she was able to see some similarities. For instance, it was clear that Isis had inherited her maternal grandmother's complexion being slightly more a caramel brown than her mother's golden brown. She had chocolate eyes and short brown-black hair. She kept her hair short like her mother's, usually spiked. She even had her mother's facial features of the most part with her father's facial shape.

If Aman was outgoing and Liam reserved, Isis was a perfect blend of the two. However, she could understand business slightly better than Aman could but it bored her for the most part. As well as science.

If Aman was all about science and math, Liam all about business, than technology fell to Isis. When most children were playing with their toys, she was taking them apart trying to understand how it worked. In fact most of the time she got in trouble as a child, involved her taking apart something that she shouldn't have. The only thing was, she had a desperate need to understand how something worked.

Of the family, she was the one that could tell them about how their business worked down to the T. Even Balem was amazed at his daughter's ability to tell him how even the most complicated machinery's work. In the past, Balem didn't care how it worked as there were people who handled that. She trained with Mr. Captiosus for a bit as well.

In addition to technology, Isis was also a part time programmer, writing new software. And on her breaks, she masqueraded as an artist. Matter of fact, Isis' appearance was always considered bold. It grated on her father's nerves (probably more his reserved nature than his nerves) that she felt the need to change her hair color every six months or a year. Her mother tried to make sure that Isis' constant experimentation didn't cross too many boundaries.

Right now, Isis' brown-black hair was died blue at the end. She also wore a small nose piercing along with black feather earrings. Her makeup was of the blue persuasion at the moment along with her dark blue dress.

Just then the door the dining room opened and everyone looked up as a man walked in. He sketch a small bow, "Majesties." he said with a small smile.

"Cut that out, Yaron and get over here!" Aman waved away the bow, as he kicked the chair out.

"Yaron have you seen our parents on the way here?" Isis asked.

Yaron blinked, his green reptilian eyes as he sat down. "No I haven't. They haven't come down yet?" he asked beginning to fix himself a plate.

Yaron was Aman's best friend. Yaron came as a surprise to his parents Dalila and Naveen, chameleon splices. Mostly because they were told that they didn't have a reproductive system or at least, it wasn't functional, even if they were discovered to be part human.

Yaron was chocolate skinned like his father and wore his black hair shornned. He was had an athletic body and his muscles were clearly defined. He inherited his parents green reptilian eyes but they weren't as defined or bright at his parents. At the moment he was wearing a simple green vest, pants and boots. His eyes were lined with kohl.

"No, not yet." Isis answered with a sigh.

"Calm down. I'm sure they are fine." Liam spoke.

"Well I think one of us should go check on them." Isis ordered.

Aman took another bit of food only to stop and look up feeling three pairs of eyes boring a hole in him.

"I'm sure they are fine."

"Aman..." Isis whined.

"Look, if they are you know, busy..." Aman cleared his throat, "I don't want to know nothing about nothing."

Isis glared at Aman and Liam snickered.

"Fine, sister. If it will ease your worries." Aman stated standing up.

"Oh, you're the best!" Isis cried giving him an air kiss.

Yaron laughed.

"Spare me." Aman grumbled good naturally. He went to leave only to turn around to snag a piece of toast.

Liam winkled his nose, "You are a garbage disposal."

Aman shrugged and grinned before darting out the door. He had finished the toast during his walk to his parents room. Coming to their door, he knocked.

"Mama!" he called, "Dad!"

It silence.

"Look if you are busy, fine. Just let me know and I'll be on my way!" he called out.

Not receiving an answer Aman sighed and gave a small whine, "Look I don't want to get scarred here!"

With a sigh, he waved his hand and the door opened. He lowered his gaze as he inched his head into the room. "Guys?"

It took a moment before he looked up enough to spot that his parents were still lying down.

"Oh, I didn't know you were still sleep. Literally." he whispered.

No answer.

Aman frowned, and began inching over to the bed, "Um, mom, dad? You awake?" He got up to the edge of the bed to see his parents on their side facing each other.

They didn't...look right.

It wasn't the aged wrinkles that bothered him. Nor was it the streaks of grey in their hair, though his father's hair was a bit more towards the white.

It was the pallor of their skin.

Their stillness.

Suddenly a cold feeling washed over Aman. "Mama?" He asked reaching down and shaking her shoulder. Touching her shoulder, he felt a chill coming from her.

Aman stumbled back retracting his hand as if it burned. Suddenly, tears were building in eyes as he stared a good long moment. Then just as quickly, he was running out of the door stumbling, yelling for his siblings.

Amoya and Balem Abrasax lay facing each other. In his rising grief, Aman missed the small smiles that played on his parents faces. He also missed their clasped hands as they laid facing each other.

Which once began with a fascination, has now ended with a revolution.

 **FIN.  
**

* * *

 **A.N. :** Thank you so much for reading this story! I know this took longer than I planned to upload this story than I originally intended. Thanks so much for all those that reviewed this story. I enjoyed reading them. A couple of things:

1\. I do have an Revolution: The Unofficial Soundtrack for this story. It's linked on my Fire in the Desert tumblr blog as well as it being on YouTube. So if you type it in, it should pop up. (I hate that this site doesn't do links anymore.) My YT name is Desertfyre.

2\. The future of these characters. I actually do have a short part three but right now my muse for this has left me, so I don't know when, if I do, I will get around to that. I'll say that it's a fluff and puff pregnancy story. It wouldn't be a long story like this or even Fascination. So hopefully one day I will get around to that. I want to but right now, kinda on other things and like I said, my muse left me.

3\. Also on my Desertfyre Youtube account, I have a video. I don't know how many of you cosplay, but I'm doing a cosplay and you guessed it. I'm making Balem's cloak outfit he wore for all of 3 minutes in the movie. Thought I throw that out there. The vid title is called: Cosplay - Making Of: Balem Abrasax "Ideation". If you are interested further, you can check out my Instagram- desertfyr which will probably have updated info on the progress as I work on it. And if you allow to be take another moment to say, recreating his choker is no joke.

4\. I mentioned my original comic Shadopla. Originally it was (and a few pages still is) Smackjeeves but I moved from there to Tapastic. Also under the username Desertfyre on Tapastic.

So yeah, I think that it! Thanks once again for reading and reviewing this story!


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